Role Play with Deepest
by FourEyedTurtle
Summary: A role play that Deepest and I have been doing on Tumblr. Cover Image drawn by Deepest.
1. Chapter 1

Something untoward was going on, she could feel it with every fibre of her being. An ominous atmosphere had been gnawing at her for days, but now she was going to get the proof she needed to call him out.

Perched uncomfortably on the fire escape railing, she peered curiously through the glass. He was in there. She could feel it. Her rival. That idiot who thought he was so much better than her. Well, she was going to suss him out, prove that he was a fraud.

Hope Brevin was on a mission, one she would stop at nothing to complete.

* * *

Belle's head was still buzzing as she walked briskly out into the night. Six hours she had sat working on her 2-D animation project since lunch, doubling her total time in the studio that day to 12 solid hours sitting at her desk.

Nevertheless a satisfied, contented smile graced her face as her footsteps echoed into the alleys she passed on her way home. For Belle Gregors was happiest when her mind was hard at work making pictures move across a screen.

She was just excitedly reminiscing the progress she had made that day when a sudden noise had her sweeping her eyes across every inch of the dark alleyway to her right that she could make out. Her eyes narrowed when the sound was evidently muffled, as though someone had hurried to stifle it before it was heard.

* * *

"Dammit!" Hope exclaimed as she lost her footing and hurried to steady herself. In hindsight, climbing up here was not her best idea, but it seemed like the only option at the time.

She needed to get inside, to see what was being done in his lab. It was obvious to her that his work was not completely legal, but the only plausible way to ascertain if her suspicions were correct was to break in.

Heart beating wildly with adrenaline, she slyly picked the lock on the fire escape door and snuck her way inside.

* * *

Belle took her time debating whether or not to investigate the noise. All the while, her ears were straining to hear any follow-up noise that might indicate the need to do so.

But surely, it could just be someone in a window, who was anxious not to disturb the ghostly silence that permeated the air. Belle was certain that, if she was not given a sign soon, she would have no need whatsoever to step into the shrouding darkness.

Alas, her feet seemed eager to move on their own accord. Shuffling awkwardly for a few seconds, Belle decided that one quick look into the alley would not be out of the question.

Mentally preparing herself for anything unexpected, Belle walked cautiously into the shadows. Always, since she had moved from Boston to New York, the knowledge that her mind was sharp and focused gave her courage. And this is what made her bravely stand her ground when her gaze shot upwards on a whim to see a suspicious, green flicker of light dancing in the window of the old building.

* * *

Searching the building took less time than Hope had anticipated, and before long she'd reached a large laboratory, void of people.

Opting to keep to the shadows, she wormed her way around some large metal tanks.

Out in the main area, she could hear voices, only one of which she recognised. It was him. It was her rival.

Getting close enough the listen in, she noticed that he seemed to be threatening the second voice. Sliding between two wooden crates, she managed to sneak a look. Her eyes widened in horror. It couldn't be.

* * *

Vaguely, Belle thought she heard a very faint yelling from inside. Her fingers twitched with the promise of adrenaline as she began to climb, sure-footed, up a cluster of old crates stationed beneath the window. Her reasoning was that, if the yelling proved itself to be any cause for concern, nobody could blame her for wanting to get a more _educated_ \- impression.

Right?

Her pale face looked like a spectre when it emerged into view. Though distant, the shouting was more distinct from this vantage. Belle's chest stilled as a hard, cruel slap echoed across the hard brick walls. Not seconds after the echoes diminished, followed closely by cold silence, did a long-dormant, almost maternal, protective instinct cement itself somewhere in her sternum, and Belle slipped as quietly as she could through the window and made her way inconspicuously along the wall towards the source of the green light.

* * *

A large vat of what appeared to be the mysterious substance known as mutagen was glimmering before Hope's eyes. She was no stranger to the liquid; she'd been studying it for many years. However this was not what had shocked her.

Standing on from of the huge tank was her rival, Bishop and he had what appeared to be a captive. A mutant. She didn't even think these creatures actually existed in the real world, only in her numerous experiments. He was tied up, but showed no signs of being afraid, a brave face shining through. What was he? A turtle?

It was the strangest creature she had ever seen.

* * *

Thick, scaly skin and a shell that looked like it could bear the weight of several trucks. It glared up at a suited man with an expression of resolve. Belle, who had always been good with her intuition, thought she could sense a hatred behind the eyes of the turtle creature as it looked at him.. No matter how much it looked like some kind of monster, she couldn't shake the uncanny feeling that this creature was far more human than its captor.

She turned her attention, somewhat reluctantly, to the tall, dark-haired man standing in front of the creature. He was half-hidden by an enormous tank of glowing green sludge that Belle guessed, by the toxic scent it emitted, would be devastating if it happened to spill free of its containment.

* * *

What should she do? Try and save the mutant? Attack Bishop? What choices did she have? Panic was settling in, making a little nest in her chest. She wasn't that strong.

She began scanning the area looking for tools to use to her advantage. There nothing, the room was void of anything she may be able to utilise.

That's when she spied her. A young girl perched in a mirror pose to her own, across the room. Her eyes were fixated on the scene, a slight smirk planted on her lips.

Hope gawped at the woman, what the heck was she doing here? And what exactly was her plan? She hoped it was miles better than her own futile attempts.

* * *

Think, Belle. She gazed avidly at the two figures beyond the ooze. There were so many possibilities, and yet so many contingencies, for getting involved. This man was obviously at fault for the redness that was blossoming across the poor creatures face, explaining the loud slap she had heard earlier. In her books, that marked him as provoked and dangerous.

What she needed, she decided, was an accomplice. Simply one more factor in the equation could balance it out, and coming up with a plan would become so much easier…

Whilst scanning the room for inspiration, Belle laid eyes on the perfect candidate. A pair of light blue eyes, framed with locks of blonde hair, was staring at her from the other side of the room. With one look, Belle knew that the two of them were on the same side.

Smiling, she gave an experimental wave to the young woman across from her.

* * *

She'd been spotted. The panic nesting beneath her rib cage sunk in deeper, gripping her with long claws. The expression on the girl's face was not that of provocation, but rather, that of… well… hope.

The small gesture of her hand told Hope all she needed to know; this woman was an ally. One she desperately needed.

Returning the wave, albeit apprehensively, she pointed her eyes at the scene between them. When the girl nodded in reply, Hope made a shrugging motion, signalling that she was unaware of what to do.

* * *

Belle grinned at the girl across from her. So they were on the same page. That gave them a fighting chance!

Pursing her lips in thought, Belle contemplated the two figures by the ooze. If her, her new ally, and the turtle creature all had a common enemy, it was that man in the black suit. If. But how to make sure?

Making up her mind, she waved again to the mysterious blonde. Seeing that she was being paid attention, Belle pointed at her, then at her own temple, then sporadically gestured between the turtle and the suited man; staring meaningfully all the while at her audience.

 _What do you think of those two?_

She held up both hands, as though tipping a scale from side to side,

 _Friend or foe?_

* * *

Hope got the gist of what the girl was trying to communicate. She nodded her head towards Bishop, and bit her lip in contemplation. How to let her know that this menace was to be taken down?

Her eyes turned dark and the thought that it might need to be more than just take him down. She turned her gaze back to the girl and brought her index finger across her throat, indicating that he needed to go, by any means necessary.

* * *

Her lips thinned. Obviously, this woman was here on personal business. And that, she decided, was all the proof she needed.

She let her eyes rake over the body of the turtle creature. He was rather muscular, even if his arms and legs were on the stretchy side. If they were going to take down the suited man, they needed to set that creature free.

An idea readily formulated in her mind, Belle signalled her plan to the woman, whose eyes had lost their former glaze of uncertainty. Now, the woman stared back with fiery determination.

 _Go to the other side of the room_ , she gestured, circling the palm of her hand and pointing, _and distract him_! She pointed at the man and mimed attracting his attention.

Concern for the other girl's well being made Belle's hands scramble to relay a second message. She swiftly swiped her hand back and forth across her throat and pointed at both him and her, and then her own eyes, with two fingers; _Don't let him see you!_

* * *

Hope nodded in understanding and silently snuck around the edges of the room. Picking up a discarded wooden block she lobbed it as hard as she could to the spot where she'd been crouching moments ago.

The sound made Bishop whisk around and call out, "who's there?!" and Hope knew she'd completed this part of her mission.

* * *

Belle rushed in a crouch to a corner of the room where she was out of the line of sight of the man in the suit, just behind some large metal canisters. The turtle creature was looking towards the man as he searched where the blonde girl once hid. She noticed that he had a very bad squint. From this distance, Belle could clearly make out a tattered purple mask around his eyes. In all other aspects, he was quite bare.

He was also tied with a number of harsh-looking lengths of metal chord, which, in turn, were bound tight and secure by an equally thick, heavy lock.

As she was about to capture his attention to find out where the suited man put the key to his imprisonment, she was startled near to revealing herself when he called out,

"Guys? Is someone there?!"

* * *

Hope froze to the spot when the creature raised his voice. _Shut up you idiot, you'll give us away_! she cursed in her mind.

She was merely meters away from the girl, who had mimicked her paralysed stance, eyes wide with confusion.

There was nothing else to throw to distract Bishop, and Hope began to panic. She could see that he was about to give up his search and return to the creature, and her mind raced, desperately searching for a plan.

As he shrugged his shoulders and began to turn, which would have put him in the direct line of sight of the girl, Hope panicked and leapt from the shadows.

"BISHOP!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. His eyes fixated on her, giving the woman the time she needed to free the creature.

* * *

Belle might have kissed her savior but, not only was she furious with herself and the turtle creature for blowing one of their covers, she needed to act fast or the girl's incredible risk could be in vain. She began to creep silently towards a pristine white laboratory table on the other side of the tank of ooze.

The man, who she now knew was Bishop, as well as his prisoner, whipped their heads around to stare at the blonde girl, who stood awkwardly in front of him with eyes wide with panic.

Aside from being angered or confused, Bishop clasped his hands firmly behind his back and looked at the girl with what appeared to be a mild, polite interest.

"Ah…" He murmured in a low baritone that resonated with an undertone of amusement and… remorselessness. "Miss Brevin, if I am not mistaken?"

Trembling with unease at his unexpected display of apathy, Belle spied a thick key sitting on the desk that was clearly made with the same hard material as the lock on the creature's bindings.

* * *

Heart beating wildly in her chest, threading to break free, Hope took a deep breath, refusing to allow herself to cast her eyes towards the secret scene.

"Bishop. I knew you were up to something, but now I have all the proof I need," she said scornfully, stepping towards him. He made no attempt at rebuttal, so she continued, "I am going to show you in your true light!" Her voice echoed around the room, filling all its crevices with her words.

* * *

He chuckled delightedly, as though he were negotiating with a child. If Belle thought he was apathetic before, she was prepared to eat her words. This man had an air of instability about him. Quite frankly, he was creepy.

It was painfully obvious that this man was not indifferent as Belle had first suspected. In fact, it was as clear as day that he could not care more about Miss Brevin's arrival.

Beneath his cool facade Belle detected a cold, merciless fury. She sensed an impossibly impenetrable shield that he had guarding dark, terrible secrets of his being. His mere ability to maintain his acting so perfectly proved that Bishop, it seemed, was far worse an enemy than she could have imagined. His inhuman sadism terrified her to her core, and her hand was unsteady as it carefully took the key from the table top. Her realization about Bishop dulled her minds sharp focus, and her courage that had sustained her for so long leaked from her slowly. When Bishop next spoke, it made her freeze, so unsettled she was about his cold-bloodiness.

"Yes, you can see me quite differently in this light, can't you? Such a glorious amount I've managed to obtain, wouldn't you say?" He gestured to the tank behind him without looking. "I daresay this is enough to carry me out to the very end of my experiments, when I will finally have all the information I need."

* * *

"Come on, what are you waiting for, lady?" Donatello whispered urgently at the hesitating girl. He followed her apprehensive gaze to the scene opposite them. The blonde girl was swinging her arms around, clearly quite angry with his captor. From the manner in which they were talking, they were acquaintances of sorts, perhaps even rivals.

But none of that mattered now; he had to focus all of his efforts on convincing this girl to free him. At least then he may be able to fight, or at best find his brothers. Surely they'd be on their way by now? He'd been missing for days, and even though they weren't the brightest beings, he was confident that they'd work out the tracker on his t-phone.

Their eyes met, and even though the fear that crossed hers was apparent, he gave her his most reassuring smile and tilted his head towards the key.

* * *

As an understanding passed between the two of them, Belle found herself distracted from the goings-on between Bishop and Miss Brevin.

Here was living proof of so much that she had always hoped was possible! This level of sentience in a being so different and alien from herself was like a sign from God; All of Belle's understanding of the world she lived in should have been blown to smithereens the very first time she had laid eyes on this creature. But instead, she felt a faithful, trusting kinship with him. She took a millisecond to marvel at him. His eyes were soft, but expectant.

With her head buzzing with astonishment and wonder, Belle found that her mind had sharpened once again. Grinning with the thrill of bravery that rushed back like a river she dashed forward, staying silent and low to the ground. Coming to rest at the turtle's side, she bowed her head in respect and gratitude as she carefully inserted the key into the lock of his bindings. Her gaze locked on Bishop, waiting for the perfect moment to release the lock…

* * *

"You're not listening to me!" Hope bellowed at the exasperating man, "I don't care if you think this is okay, I'm telling you, it's illegal, immoral, and downright stupid!"

His complete lack of emotion was beginning to grate at her. At what point did it become acceptable to kidnap and experiment on mutants? Yes, she'd done her fair share of testing, but that was on inert tissue, not a living, breathing, for lack of a better word, person.

She'd now buried herself so deep in pointlessly arguing with Bishop, that she'd forgotten about the matter at hand. She daren't look round to see if the mysterious girl had done the deed, so she continued to rant at Bishop, silently praying that her distraction was not in vain.

Bishop took a menacing step forward, his dark eyes, like pools of black tar, glinted with malice.

* * *

"…And I'm telling you, Miss Brevin…" He murmured dangerously. She took a tiny step backwards. "…I don't care if you think this isn't okay. And I assure you, it is ingenious, entirely for the greater good, and although it is hard to believe, quite within legal rights. You see, I am just a little bit more qualified than you might care to acknowledge. Why, the president himself signed and sealed the contract that enables me to 'explore' the mutagenic and biological properties of creatures like the fine specimen behind me…"

He had thrust himself into an egotistical monologue. And, though his words and subtle undermining jarred her nerves, Belle couldn't think of a better time to shove his foot into his mouth.

With a loud, satisfying click, the turtle came free. And Belle danced back as he leaped to his feet, a full two heads taller than the once-intimidating Bishop.

* * *

Hope stifled a scream, throwing her hand over her mouth. Her reaction had made Bishop spin around just in time to see the turtle's foot slam into his face.

He collapsed to the ground and his eyes rolled back into his head. Not dead, but definitely out of it enough for them to make their escape.

Hope could now fully appreciate what a wondrous creature the turtle was. Not meaning to gawp, but doing so nonetheless, she took in all his features: rough green skin, hard protective shell on his back, and three fingered hands. He looked like he'd been through a lot, but the determination on his face was striking.

* * *

There was a moment where the two women, and the giant turtle, all stared at one another. No one had the gall to break the deafening silence.

Belle glanced towards Bishop's unconscious body feeling a twinge of guilt.

She had never, ever, liked it when people got hurt. Although, she supposed, it was for the best this time around.

The turtle looked at both her and Miss Brevin, his head swinging from side to side. They were all slightly relieved when he broke the silence.

"So, um… Who the heck are you ladies?"

After another few seconds of silence Belle gave a nervous giggle, which turned into a laugh when the other girl joined in. Soon they were both clutching their sides and wiping their eyes of moisture. What had they just _DONE_?

Eventually, Belle had the thought of responding to his question, clearing her throat with a cough.

"Um… I'm, uh… Belle."

* * *

It was the shock, the craziness of the situation, it just set of a reflex in Hope that wouldn't stop. Tears streamed down her cheeks, but she stuttered to a stop when the girl revealed her identity.

"Heh, hum, and I'm Hope," she choked out, wiping her eyes, and suppressing that last few convulsing giggles from her diaphragm. "Wh-what, who, pray tell, are you?" She directed her question at the mutant, curiosity rising in her chest.

* * *

The turtle seemed a bit concerned for their well-being while they were laughing, but looked a little sheepish when Hope asked him the same. He shuffled his feet on the cement floor.

"Uh… Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't really think I should tell you that."

 _Ah, but of course_ , Belle thought. _He would want to keep his identity a secret or he might get captured and experimented on again_ … Hope, too, nodded understandingly but seemed a little bit reluctant, like how Belle felt.

"So…" He continued, casting inquisitive looks at the two of them. "What were you doing?"

At this, they both started laughing again.

* * *

"You were amazing though!" Hope praised, steadying herself on Belle's shoulder. "Seriously! Have you ever… been in a situation like that before?"

What was most puzzling about this situation was that the two girls seemed more engrossed in the fact that they'd just had a crazy adventure, then the strange mutant accompanying them.

* * *

"No! Never." Belle set her mind back to the steps she had taken that night to get to where she was now. "I guess, when the need arises, you just… just turn into a different person. I had no idea I could keep my head so cool."

The turtle sighed. "Leo…"

They stared at him, puzzled.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" He said, as though remembering they were there. "You just reminded me of my brother. He's always talking about focus and keeping cool while in danger…"

"You have a brother?" Belle blurted.

The turtle blinked and then face-palmed, turning away to mutter to himself.

Chuckling, she looked at Hope, eager to converse with her. "But, really… why were you here tonight? Who are you?"

* * *

This was getting curiouser and curiouser by the minute. Now they had some more new information: the turtle had a sibling. That meant there could potentially be more mutants within the city. The prospect internally excited Hope.

They began walking through the halls of the building searching for a way out. "That guy, Bishop, he's my biggest rival in mutant studies," she saw this piqued the turtle's interest, but he endeavoured to conceal it. "He's been making some huge breakthroughs in the field recently, and I was here to find out why that was." They turned the corner to find a huge metal door blocking their way. "Ugh, dead end," Hope sighed.

* * *

"I guess we could try going out the way we came in?" Belle suggested. "Unless…" She looked up at the mutant of the group, "…You want to go out a more reclusive way?"

"Uh… No!" He assured her, tearing his eyes away from a noticeboard displaying several complicated diagrams on the wall next to him. "I'll make sure you get out okay. I mean, it's best if we stick together."

The two girls smiled up at him and, as one, they turned to head back the way they came.

Belle was just appreciating that everything on the way back looked much different than what she remembered when the three of them heard footsteps on the floor above them. It sounded like a small group of people, very large, heavy people, were running in the same direction they were walking.


	2. Chapter 2

"We're right on top of him! I don't understand, he should be right here!"

"Bro, it's cool, I got this. DONNIE!"

"Mikey! Shut up!"

Hope, Belle and their mutant friend all looked up to the roof. The sounds were right above them. Hope raised an eyebrow at the turtle. "Anyone you know?" she smirked.

At that moment, an air grate a few feet from them collapsed to the ground, and there figures descended from the ceiling. Hope's suspicions were confirmed; these three looked almost identical to their mutant.

"Uh… Dude?" asked the smallest one, donning an orange mask.

Hope turned back to the first turtle and said mockingly, "yeah, 'dude'?" and arched her eyebrows at him, expecting some form of explanation.

* * *

The turtle, now to be known as 'Donnie', looked hopelessly from his brothers to the two girls beside him. Hope and Belle both had triumphant grins on their faces, and he groaned, knowing that he had to face the wrath of his brothers for being caught in the company of two human girls. Belle turned her head to study the new arrivals. All of them were rather more muscular than Donnie was, but none of them quite as tall.

The one in red came closest to his height, but had a mean, thug-like appearance to him. Belle didn't think she had ever believed that anyone could be as ripped, or indeed, as large, as he was. Belle smiled at him shyly, and he responded with a contemptuous sneer.

She gulped and sidestepped to stand slightly behind Donnie. This mutant was everything she had ever feared about the male gender and more.

The turtle right next to him was the shortest of the lot. Aside from an orange mask, he was adorned with a number of beaded necklaces. He had wide, bright blue eyes. When he caught Belle staring, he smirked and winked as though expecting her to swoon at the sight of him. Belle grinned despite herself. This one was rather full of himself…

* * *

The apparent leader of the little group stepped forward on front of the others. He had a definite air of authority to him, one that Hope almost admired. "Donnie? What's going on, who are these women?" he demanded.

The smallest one piped up, "How did you manage to find two smoking hot girls anyway, Donnie?" He grinned mischievously at the girls, a smug expression on his face. "Leo…? What do we do…?"

The one called Leo hesitated. He looked to the girl on the right, and an unfathomable feeling washed over him. He took in her long, curly hair, shimmering and golden, like he could just drink it up. Her dazzling blue eyes, which, if he had to time, he would study every line, every fleck of colour. Her evident amusement with the situation, the small smirk poised on her lips… He took a deep breath. This girl was beautiful.

Shaking his head, ridding himself of the strange feeling in his chest, he composed himself. "Fall back. We need to get you all out of here."

* * *

Belle glanced up at the last of the turtles, only to do a double-take when she found herself being stared at right back. Before she could really react, 'Leo' snapped his head away to address Donnie. Belle blinked at the commanding ring of his words. Dimly thinking that he was most likely the leader of the group, Donnie spoke up. "An excellent plan! We'll show these two to the exits and be on our way! I saw some flash drives on a counter in one of the rooms back there…" As he rambled on, another thought suddenly came to Belles mind.

"Wait, that's it?" She asked, one elegant brow arched incredulously. "No 'you know too much, we must kill you now'? No death threats, no dire warnings? You're just…" Belle's heart grew heavy, it was like a cold block of metal was pressing, stationary and vacant, against the inside of her chest. "…Just going to let us leave?"

Belle gazed up at the mutants, first Donnie, who both she and Hope had rescued without any second thought, then around his siblings. The large, scary mutant with the red bandana, the shorter one, 'Mikey', who seemed so open and, charmingly, obnoxious. At last, she fixed her eyes on the one named Leo who, she noticed with an odd sort of wriggle in her stomach, had a very penetrating and somehow reassuring stare. Would she never have the chance to get to know these creatures who warped her entire reality? Was her adventure, the discovery of her newfound sense of self, coming to an end?

She looked imploringly at Hope, searching for some kind of back-up. Maybe she felt the same way Belle did…

* * *

Leo stared quizzically at the girl. That was what was on her mind? Not the fact that they needed to remove themselves from the situation as quickly as possible, before Donnie's captor raised an alarm? No, she was more worried about how they viewed her. He shook his head meticulously, hoping not to set her off. "No. At this moment, ma'am, we need to get everyone out. We can discuss other… details… later."

Hope was finding the entire situation very difficult to take in. However she knew this mutant was correct in his statement, so she placed her hand on Belle's shoulder. "We need to go. We can't stand around arguing forever," with that she began tapping furiously at the key pad of the metal door blocking their way, in a desperate attempt to clear a path.

* * *

Everyone crowded around the door. Belle kept her mouth shut, watching Hope at work, knowing when she wasn't needed. To her utmost surprise, she felt an enormous hand enclose around her shoulder. She flinched and looked up into the face of the largest turtle.

"Raph." He said gruffly. "And don' worry, there's no way we're lettin' you go that easy." His statement might have sounded foreboding, even threatening, if he had looked at her without the understanding smile that completely transformed his brutish face. Belle gave him the same little smile and nodded her head in thanks.

Over at the door, Donnie tapped Hope on the shoulder and she looked around at him. "Maybe, uh…" He began, "Maybe I should hack that. I mean, I know how."

* * *

A spark of rage set alight a fire in Hope's baby blue eyes. Her voice came out in an angered squeak, " _You know how_? Oh _YOU_ know how?! Go on then, Mister Genius, go for it, you show me _HOW_ to do it!" She snapped at him, stepping back.

If it weren't already obvious to the group, it was definitely now. Hope was ridiculously sensitive about her skills. Over the course of years, she'd been shot down constantly by Bishop, always outshining her on all of her projects. It irked her beyond all belief, and now this turtle was doing the exact same thing.

* * *

"I didn't mean to upset you!" Though he sounded sincere enough, the purple-masked turtle still got down on one knee in front of the lock and began twitching through the exposed wires Hope had already been tweaking. Through the sounds of tiny sparks of electricity he muttered under his breath, "No need to get snappish…"

Belle could tell just by looking at the back of Hope's head that she had heard what he said, and wasn't happy about it. Her blonde hair, up in an untidy bun, bristled, and before her very eyes Hope seemed to swell with anger. Mikey, who had been leaning casually against the metal doorframe and had a clear view of Hope's face, gave a low whistle, his eyes sparkling with joy at the situation.

* * *

A loud click from the huge door broke the uncomfortable silence and when Donnie looked up at Hope, the hint of smugness in his smile, she glared at him, "Don't," she stated firmly pushing her way through the door.

Here was yet another male asserting his intelligence showing that he was just plain better than her. It set a fuse alight within her that would eventually make her explode in anger.

For now, they all bustled through the door, eyes darting around the hallway searching for a way out.

Leo took charge and pointed forward, "That way, come on," he gestured towards a green exit sign, and they all followed his lead. Hope walked a little ahead of the rest, silently cursing herself for letting Donnie get into her head.

* * *

Excitement and curiosity mounted as Belle walked speedily to keep up with the striding footsteps of the mutants. If what Raph said was anything to go by, she and Hope might be held for questioning. They might make them take a vow not to tell anyone of their existence. Belle had never felt so creatively fulfilled. This was just like living in movie! The years she had spent studying to be an animator and storyboard writer told her to expect the unexpected. As the group made their way to the exit door, Belle assured herself that there was nothing that lay beyond that door that she could be certain of. The mystery thrilled her.

Leo pushed down the bar and the door swung open to reveal, not the foggy night of the city, but a stairwell, leading downwards.

"Of course!" Donnie leaned over his brother's shoulder to peer down the stairs as fluorescent lights flickered along the walls. "If Bishop was so secretive, and was as close to the government as he said he was, there's no way he'd undergo all his research in just this old lab… This must lead to a secret government facility. Who knows how far down it goes!"

He looked like he had every bit the mind of going down there to check it out. Mikey looked equally interested. Sirens went off in Belles head. "Now hold on one moment!" Everyone's heads swivelled towards her. "We can't get too excited about this. If a branch of government in genetic research really is down there then guess how lucky they'd be if a bunch of full-grown mutants came wandering into their lab?"

* * *

Hope stepped forward, "Belle is right. Our main priority at this moment is to get out of here." As curious as she was about the veil of secrecy coating the stairwell and beyond, she was settled on leaving this place. There was plenty of time to investigate on her own, at a later date.

Much to her infuriation, the others all looked to Leo for guidance, and she shot him a knowing look. Slowly, he nodded, "Alright, let's find another way out."

 _Who put him in charge?_ she thought to herself, fists balling up at her sides. She'd sought out this mission alone and now she was lumped with four mutant turtles. Belle, she'd decided, wasn't too bad, at least the girl had some spunk about her.

Grumbling inwardly she shoved her way in front of Leo and muttered, "Come on."

* * *

Feeling wary knowing that they were walking in what was probably a cesspool of government research, Belle inconspicuously hung back to linger at the groups' rear with Mikey and Raph. As they passed each door, she glanced inside, and she continuously looked behind her.

"Freakin' calm down!" Raph cried out eventually, prodding her between the shoulder blades so that she moved ahead of him. "If ya' so scared o' the place than move ta the front!"

Belle walked obediently in front of him, too used to avoiding men on the streets to risk falling back again. Still, she immediately retaliated. "I'm not scared…" His silence sounded utterly disbelieving, and Belle turned to face him, walking sideways to keep up. "I'm serious, okay?" She continued calmly. "If some government official or researcher comes walking out of one of these doors, who do you think is gonna be in more trouble?"

"She has a point, there." Donnie spoke up from just ahead of her. "I mean… I was seen by some loon just a couple days ago, and look where that got me!"

* * *

"You mean you didn't have enough smarts to outwit him," Hope mumbled inwardly, stomping ahead of the group. She wasn't sure what it was about this turtle that wound her up. Perhaps it was that she knew deep down that he was more intelligent than she, or maybe it was because she'd been the one to rescue him, with Belle's help, but he didn't seem at all grateful. Either way, her ego was bruised.

Leo was curiously watched the taller girl shuffle down the hall. He couldn't understand why she had such a large chip on her shoulder. Glancing back over his own, he clocked Belle and Raph in a heated discussion. His faced contorted into a grimace, and he scolded himself for even thinking in that way. Of course she'd find Raph more interesting, he was the burly one, the muscle. Charm could only go so far.

He scolded himself again when he almost walked straight into the other girl _. Pay attention, you idiot!_ his inner voice snapped.

"Here," Hope pointed at large square door, "it's a disposal unit. I'm betting it will take us outside. I'll go first." She began to unhook the latch when she felt a hand in her shoulder, firmly pulling her back.

"No," Leo stated with authority, "we can't risk you running away. Mikey goes first," he raised an eye ridge at his youngest brother, who whooped with delight.

"Aww yeah, bruh! I got this!" He swung himself from the frame of the door and disappeared down the chute.

* * *

Belle giggled as Mikey whooped and cheered his way downwards. Raph stepped forward and followed his brother's lead with significantly less enthusiasm. Everyone who remained could vaguely hear his gruff voice calling out, "I'm comin' down! Move your shell!"

Since only Donnie and Leo remained, they ushered her and Hope forward to climb in after the first two. Donnie opened the shaft for them.

He gazed pointedly at Hope. "Any objections?"

Hope scowled at him and begrudgingly stepped inside. Belle could hear the back of her clothes against the slide all during her descent.


	3. Chapter 3

The cool evening air hit Hope's face before she knew it, and instead of landing in a heap on the concrete like she'd anticipated, she found herself in the strong arms of the turtle called Mikey.

"I gotcha, girl," he winked flashing her a toothy grin. Hope felt her face grow hot, and kicked her limbs until he released her. "Damn, you're quite feisty, aren't ya?"

Belle's shrieks could be heard echoing in the shaft and before Mikey could get in position to catch her, Raph had shoved him out the way and collected the girl in his huge embrace.

* * *

"Ooph!" She was out of the dark. Belle had the strangest feeling that the concrete had grown strong, stone limbs to catch her. But after she got her bearings, she found that it was not statuesque concrete that caught her, but instead the arms of the largest, most intimidating, turtle.

"Oh…" She drew her arms to her chest, feeling very exposed and uncomfortable surrounded by enormous forearms and biceps that felt like they could crush her very bones with a simple flex. "Thank you." She said quietly, not feeling brave enough to meet his eyes.

"Don' mention it…" Raph put her down with surprising carefulness, so she could easily slip out of his grip and touch down delicately on the real concrete. It was only when he stepped aside and she felt the cool night air that she realized that a warm blush had inflamed her cheeks. Looking at Hope, she was relieved to see that she had been given similar treatment, as her face was also a fiery shade of red.

Leo had already slid out of the shaft, and was determinedly looking back up it, presumably waiting for Donnie, who emerged a second later.

"Safe trip?" He asked Hope, really looking rather peeved. Belle could understand his reasons, she wouldn't like people giving her nasty looks. All the same, he seemed a tad insensitive. Especially for someone who owed Hope an awful lot.

* * *

Hope rolled her eyes and turned her back on him. _What was with this guy?_ She was praying that the turtles would just let them go at this point, so she didn't have to look into those probing eyes a second longer. However, Leo had other plans.

"We can't stay out here. We need to get you two back to our lair. There we can discuss terms," he stated firmly.

 _Terms? What the heck did that mean?_ Thought Hope as some strong arms ushered her forward. It took her a moment to realise that they belonged to Donnie, and she quickly swatted him away. "Get your paws off me!" She shrieked, glaring at him.

"Oh boy," Leo sighed, "come on, ladies, we don't want to have to force you…" he grumbled with a hint of malice in his tone.

* * *

Belle began rethinking her plans to get to know these guys. Unfortunately, it seemed by the look on their faces that there was no getting out of it. Raph made a sudden move towards her and she stiffened, not wanting to get picked up again.

"Come on, then!" Donnie made his way onto a nearby fire escape, and then began swinging up the side of the building like he did it every day.

Making a guess at how they were planning on transporting them, Belle decided to make peace with it.

"Oh…" She looked back at Raph and his outstretched arms. His face had a look of begrudging tolerance. "Oh… if you must."

And he scooped her up and leaped onto the side of the building with no warning. Belle kept her head down, her mouth clamped shut, and pressed herself close to the turtle's chest, not wanting to bump into anything on the way up.

* * *

A wash of irritation passed Leo's face and he frowned. Apparently he'd been too slow and now this girl who had been making his stomach dance in strange ways all evening was well and truly within Raph's clutches. He sighed heavily and started after them.

Hope genuinely thought about bolting. She turned her head to the only exit from the alley and bit her lip in contemplation.

"Oh no you don't, girly," Mikey hollered, grasping her by the waist and pulling her up into his arms. "We'd out run ya anyways," he offered as an explanation.

"What the-" Hope exclaimed, but soon gave in when she felt the pressure around her body. There was no way she was getting out of his hold.

* * *

They were running and jumping like a giant flea circus. Clutched in Raph's grip, Belle soon realized that she wasn't going to be dropped anytime soon. As minutes passed, she lifted her head and looked around, drinking in the sight of New York as Raph flipped, the shimmering, multi-storied buildings seemed to spin on a gigantic dais. Her long curls whipped behind her in the wind, and she began to get used to the icy cold.

They reached a stretch of close-built apartment blocks, and Belle chanced twisting around to look behind her.

She found Hope instantly, looking quite reluctantly tolerant in the arms of the orange-masked turtle. Donnie was running alongside them, and was engaged in a very expressive conversation with Mikey that she could not hear with the sound of the air rushing past and her hair as it flapped incessantly.

She settled herself back into relative comfort. Leo was running up ahead, leading the way. Belle looked up at Raph and loudly asked, "Is this how you always travel?"

"Nah." He replied, just as loudly. "We got dis van that Donnie rigged up."

"You'll have to show me sometime." said Belle conversationally.

"Sure, if ya' wan'…"

* * *

"Are you finished with your little chat?" Leo called out behind him, apparently not too far away as Belle and Raph were to the others not to overhear. "We're coming up to the drop!"

Hope had only seconds to wonder what 'the drop' could possibly entail before Mikey shifted his hold on her to one arm and reached behind him. "You'd better hold on tight, girl!" is all she heard before an intense heat had washed over her.

Without any warning whatsoever they leapt off the roof edge and Hope began to scream for her life. Immediately behind her, the mirrored cries of Belle could be heard.

It felt like time had ground to a halt and all six bodies lingered in mid-air, like a freeze frame at the end of a movie. But this was no movie, and gravity soon took hold.

"We're going to hit the ground!" Hope yelled in horror, the stone concrete getting closer by the second.

Mikey whooped with delight and the heat she had felt earlier suddenly made sense as she looked down and saw some sort of transport device at his feet. "This is the best part!" He hollered just before they entered the sewer pipe and instead of crashing to their deaths, they were on course for a fantastical journey through the depths of New York.

* * *

Belles shrieks turned quickly into manic laughter as they began twisting and sliding through enormous stone pipes of gushing water. Still pumped with the adrenaline rush that came with the fall, she couldn't seem to form any coherent words other than, "The sewers! The sewers!"

No person in their right mind would skate down here like Mikey was doing up ahead. Belle looked aside as Leo came sliding into view, surfing on the soles of his feet in a low squat. He dodged all manner of pipes and stonework that came into his path with a simple twist of his torso, his face set. Belle couldn't help admiring his stoic nature. He had a simple maturity about him that none of the others seemed to share.

With a gigantic jolt to her heart, Raph flipped suddenly and landed in a dry section of pipe cut off from the rest. There was a large hatch at the end opposite where they came in. Here, Raph put her down on somewhat shaky legs.

* * *

As hectic as the ride had been, Hope felt herself grinning from ear to ear, unable to hold her laughter back. "Well that's one way to show ladies a good time!" She gasped, as Mikey released his grip. He winked at her cheekily and again her face grew hot with embarrassment. This guy was a total charmer.

The adrenaline soon wore off and what remained was an internal sense of dread. In midst of the excitement, Hope had almost forgotten that they were being brought down here to 'discuss terms'. What that entailed, she didn't know.

The familiar urge to bolt came over her, and once again she looked over her shoulder. Her eyes were met by Donnie, standing tall eyeing her in an almost questionable manner. He quickly looked away and cleared his throat, moving to the front of the group and began fiddling with the hatch door. Hope frowned, and looked to Belle. Unlike Hope, she seemed to be lapping up the experience, joyous pleasure strewn across her pale face.

One by one, excluding Leo, the turtles dropped in through the hatch once it swung open with a lot of strenuous creaking. Left behind, Leo simply nudged both girls to the edge of the entrance, where they fixed their eyes on a most spectacular sight.

* * *

The 'lair' they had referred to some time ago was a masterpiece of pop culture, martial arts and living space. Tunnels opened up into different rooms, one of them hidden by veils of stringed beads. There was light, and noise. Belle thought it was beautiful, as it had the home-style, chaotic charm of creative compromise when there was no real material to work with. Was that couch made of pizza boxes…?

"May I present…" Called Donnie from below, executing an elaborate bow, "Casa Del Turtle!"

* * *

Leo felt a something that measured up to smugness fill his chest. The girls looked utterly impressed with their home, especially Belle. He wanted to show them around, show off what they'd created, but held back, a serious tone taking over his voice. "Yes, Donnie, very good, but this isn't the time for homeliness. We have matters to discuss."

He let the girls to a small platform in one of the back areas and gestured for them to sit. His original plan was to have Donnie give them some sort of memory serum, to make them forget the events of the day, most importantly, to wipe him and his brothers from their minds. However some odd feeling that Belle gave him forced him to rethink this. Simply, he didn't want her to forget him.

"Well ladies, I can't say I know why you were at that madman's laboratory. It obviously wasn't a rescue mission," he glanced at Donnie, who hung his head. "You must have some sort of connection with him, otherwise you wouldn't have been snooping around. The fact of the matter is, can we trust you?" He aimed the question at Belle, his indigo eyes piercing hers.

* * *

Eyes wide, Belle felt the same protective instinct that drove her forward just hours before emerge once again as their eyes connected. Already she knew that she would never do anything to endanger these guys, just as she wouldn't do to any people above ground. Nor, she surmised, would she ever want to. And as the blue masked turtle continued staring, a tiny voice in her subconscious gasped and whispered, _he wants to trust you_!

Breathing deeply and filling her chest with as much sincerity that she could muster, she said aloud, truthfully, "I would never, ever, do anything to hurt anyone, including you and your family. If that means I have to keep my mouth shut and never relive what happened tonight, then I swear I will." Beside her, she could feel Hope shift as she watched the exchange. All around her, as well, the other turtles were listening intently. She could hear them conversing in low, hissing tones and Mikey as his topic of conversation wandered to random statements that sounded like 'invite', 'dinner' and 'orange crush'.

She turned to look at Hope, trying to communicate how amazing this experience was, and to please choose her words wisely so that Donnie wouldn't have any reason to not accept her into their pact. Belle didn't really feel like undergoing this without Hope. After what they'd done together, she thought they made a good little duo.

* * *

Leo accepted her words without hesitation, giving her a nod of approval. He turned his attention to Hope, "And you?" He asked, a note of irritation in his voice. He was positive that the way she was acting around his brother was not of ill will, but that of jealousy. Not many smart people could handle Donnie's heightened intelligence.

The platinum haired girl didn't like his tone whatsoever, however the pleading look she had received from her new ally forced her to rethink her actions. "Sure. You can trust me. It's not like anyone would believe me anyway," she expelled through gritted teeth.

Leo eyes her up and down, fully judging her. He gave her a nod too. It would suffice. "Alright. Just know that if either of you do speak of what you know, we will be forced to take drastic measures…"

* * *

"We promise." said Belle, and Leo nodded for the last time, signalling the end of the discussion. But no sooner had she moved to stand up that she fell to her knees again, because a figure had moved into the light from another room that could not have been more different from the mutants she already knew.


	4. Chapter 4

This was a rat. A very large rat wrapped in a robe with black hair tied up into a samurai-style bun. He had large, dark eyes and a very long, powerful tail which swept from side to side in what was unmistakably repressed anger. It was all Belle could do to watch and wait for what this newcomer had in store.

"Agh! Master Splinter!" Donnie shrieked, the first of the turtles to notice his presence. At his cry, Leo spun on the spot, looking most unlike the stone-faced leader the two girls were used to at that point.

The rat Splinter took a deep breath, visibly fuming, and yelled, "Who are these women!? What have I told you about being seen above ground!?"

* * *

Leo's pupils dilated into pinpricks at the sight of his father and Sensei. He knew damn well that this was all on him. "Guys, take our guests into the back…" he hissed out the side of his mouth.

Mikey ushered the girls into a room in at the back of the lair, it sported many different sized televisions, assorted electrical equipment and even a couple of games consoles. Hope's eyes lit up, now this was her type of place. If it weren't for the dire scene they'd just left Leo in, she'd be positively buzzing with excitement.

"Sensei, please, let me explain." Leo dropped to his knees and hung his head as a sign of respect for the ninjistu master.

* * *

"You can explain nothing until you have answered my questions!" Splinter began to pace in front of his eldest son, his whiskers twitching in aggravation. "You leave here with intentions to free your brother in a silent-assault stealth mission, leaving myself under the impression that you _would - not - be - seen_! Alas!" He turned and stopped dead in front of Leo, one arm waving in frustration. He seemed to be looking anywhere but at him. "Alas, in walk two fully-grown young women _\- no blindfolds_! - looking around as though they were in a surface-world gallery of some kind!"

"Man…" said Donnie, looking on from the interior of the other room. He could not help but feel bad for Leo, who always seemed to get the harshest punishments.

Glancing up at his younger son, Splinter finally looked down at Leo and asked, "Where was your brother? Who had captured him? Explain to me exactly what happened tonight including how these girls managed to come across you!" He began pacing again, his tail thrashing. " _Do not leave out any details_!"

* * *

Leo stared at the ground for a few moments in silent contemplation. He knew he'd made the correct judgement call, but how would he explain that to his Sensei? His tongue ran across his dry lips and he cleared his throat.

"We'd tracked Donnie to that building, and entered without a hitch. It was like you said, Sensei, silent-assault, a simple rescue mission," he paused, running his three fingered hand over the top of his head. "We just didn't anticipate that someone would have already freed him. By the time we got to him, these… women, well, they'd already found him. They'd already seen him… I-I made a choice."

He could feel his father's eyes boring into the back of his head and it unsettled him. He made a choice. Was it the wrong one?

"I made a judgment call, Sensei. We couldn't let them go, but…" his breath caught in his throat. He wanted to explain this strange new feeling that was tugging at his heart strings, however, he knew that this might lead to disaster. "I was doing my best in a bad situation," he finished firmly, his hands coming to a rest on his knees.

* * *

Through analysing Leo's explanation, his mind busy distinguishing the sincerity of his words, the old rat halted. Surely, he had interpreted his son's momentary hesitance incorrectly. All the same… just to be sure…

"Look at me, my son." He said, gently. Leo did, lifting his head in surprise at his father's change of tone.

The rat studied his face intently. Distantly, he recalled the hazy image of a quaint corridor with pictures hanging on the walls, and the shiny metal bars of a small cage. The little rat and his carrier turned and drifted into a door to the left. A stylish apartment. A small girl rushed over to peer at him, but the rat had eyes for the man who had retrieved him from the other place. He was conversing with a woman who had her daughters long brown hair, and he had an odd, happy gleam in his eyes which was reflected in hers as both kissed the others cheek…

Before Splinter could say anything, his three other sons rushed into the open, the two women trailing after them with uncertainty.

* * *

"Sensei!" Cried out Mikey as he came to a stop in front of the two mutants, "don't blame Leo, dude, he was only doing what any of us would've done. Anyway," he effortlessly took a hold of the two women and pushed them towards the rat, as some sort of offering, "speak to them yourself. They're not too bad!"

Hope instinctively pulled Belle behind her. She now felt some sort of obligation to protect her; after all, it was Hope's fault that they were in this mess.

"Look, this has been one of the weirdest days of my life," she began, locking her eyes into the beads of blackness before her. His whiskers twitched as she spoke, almost as if he was fighting back to urge to cast her aside. "But these… turtles… they got us out of there, I don't know why you've giving this one such a hard time, I believe he was acting in the best interests of not getting everyone killed," she added the last part facetiously, but soon recomposed herself. "It was our fault. If anything, blame us."

* * *

Splinter gazed at the girl before him, weighing the options placed for him. On one hand, these girls, if the words of the light-blonde were anything to go by, were grateful towards his sons for leading them out of trouble. That meant they were perhaps ready to accept their existence and make an oath to never speak to anyone. This reason, alone, was satisfactory enough to forgive his son and appreciate his judgement of them.

Then there was the fact that these two, very young, very obviously under experienced women had somehow managed to rescue his second-youngest son from the hands of his captor. That, thought the rat reluctantly, put himself and his family in their debt… quite inconveniencing.

Finally, and Splinter thought this was indeed the most pressing matter next to owing them for their trouble, there was his oldest sons apparent infatuation with one of the two ladies in front of him. The master's eyes darted between the two, one looking beseechingly over the shoulder of the other. He couldn't help but wonder, which one?

He knew in his heart that if Leonardo chose to pursue his affections for whichever, it would be most probable to end in upsetting him very much. Splinter could never ask that for any of his sons. All the same… he heaved a great sigh. His sons were getting older. And though he had as much right to forbid them from courting as their Sensei, he did not wish to fail in his duties as their father. That, unfortunately, he mused, included being supportive should his children embark on more emotional endeavours.

He sighed once more, stared into the eyes of the young girls and said, "Very well." They released identical breaths. "I hold no grudge against you, though you insist on being at fault for this evenings events. I do not wish to cast you from our home, as you have done us a great service. I expect Leonardo has already impressed upon you the importance of keeping our secrecy?"

* * *

Hope felt herself hanging on the majestic rat's every word. There was an air about him, like he silently demanded respect, but in a way that made her _want_ to. The relief she felt was not just that of being welcomed into their home, but that of pure curiosity. Bishop had wanted one of these turtles for something, and she needed to find out what.

That was a mission for another day.

"Sensei, thank you," Leo bowed all the way down to one knee, to show his extreme gratitude. Next he turned to the women and finally gave them his best disarming smile. He gently took both their arms and guided them to a large pit area, that Hope could only assume was some form of lounge.

The others followed suit and they all took a seat surrounding the girls.

"We should probably introduce ourselves. Properly," Leo said openly, and began motioning towards each of the turtles. "Firstly, I'm Leonardo, eldest brother , and leader of our clan-"

He was cut short by a snort from the largest turtle. A scoff, followed by a grunt, told Hope and Belle that he neither approved nor cared for his brother's words. He stood tall, showing how much bigger he was than the rest and smirked at the girls.

The smallest of the four instinctively jumped up and placed himself between them. Testosterone was thick in the air, and he didn't want to embarrass his new friends.

"I'm Michelangelo, but my bros call me Mikey! _That's_ Raphael, don't mind him, he's grumpy pretty much all the time, and you've met Donatello…" he ended, eying Hope knowingly.

* * *

Hope's tepid nod towards Donnie was the only indication that she had acknowledged Michelangelo's words. Belle subconsciously flexed her arm where Leonardo had touched her. Of course, he was perhaps even more surprisingly gentle than Raphael had been, but Belle was still not used to being touched by anyone other than a girl without her permission. The only men to her recollection that had ever touched her without her say were family members.

On another note, the animosity between Raphael and Leonardo was thick in the air. The former, who had shrugged off the larger turtle's interruption at first, was now carefully watching him from the corner of his eye. Raphael acted like he did not notice this. Perhaps sensing her eyes on him, Leo glanced her way. She gave him a small smile, which he hastily returned before looking back at the exchange of his brothers.

"Forget this noise." Raph turned and walked towards a set of TV's that stood behind him. "Donnie, I don' care if you just came back from the Titanic, tonight was s'posed to be movie night an' that ain't changin'."

Said turtle started walking towards him, but he was called back by Splinter, who beckoned him towards the room where he emerged, concern softening his features. Belle guessed that he would question him about his whereabouts and what had happened to him while he was gone.

* * *

Hope's eyes darted from one turtle to another, confusion etched on her face. Here were these huge, strange creatures, and they were talking about movie night, like it was the most normal thing in the world.

"Um… So now that everything is out in the open: you're mutant turtles, we'll keep your secret, etcetera, etcetera… can we please go home?" Hope addressed Leonardo, eager to get back to her lab and get started on some new theories.

In response, Leo locked his eyes on hers. His stern look dug deep into her, causing her to recoil slightly. Without saying a word, he departed the area, mumbling to himself.

The other two had begun arguing over which movie to watch, so Hope grabbed the opportunity to speak to Belle alone.

"I don't just want to sit and hang out with these guys…" she whispered, out of earshot of the others. "It's weird," she added as an afterthought.

* * *

" _Weird_?" Belle repeated with the air of talking about the weather. Her eyes, also, were trained on the turtles, who were now fighting over the control of the remote as well as the choice between Pirates of The Caribbean or Men in Black. "Of _course_ it's weird. Neat, huh?" She added conversationally.

Hope gave no response, but looked at her disbelievingly. "Come on," Belle pressed, "So, it's 'weird'! It's fantastic! A lot of people, Bishop included, could say that they had the privilege of seeing and learning from a real, live mutant, I bet. But how many people can actually say they were friends with one? Or five? Buck up! Smell the roses! I'd rather do something 'weird' than something predictable." She said the last word with obvious dislike of the term.

All the same, Hope's statement had made her realize how awkward the situation might be if they stayed and interrupted the turtles' regular routine. Belle thought it would be ideal if they at least asked permission before intruding in their movie-watching. She caught Michelangelo's eye and then stood up to join him and Raphael, gesturing for Hope to go with her.

* * *

Hope watched Belle's golden hair bouncing away from her. She blinked a couple of times, her mouth agape in confusion. Perhaps her new found ally was just as strange as these mutants? In saying that, she was right; Hope could learn a lot from studying these creatures, maybe even sneak herself a sample to experiment on… Reluctantly, she joined the group.

"Hey, girls! We need you to help us with the movie decision," Michelangelo waved his hands over the two DVD cases and grinned up at them, looking for their approval.

They were really doing this? They were actually going to sit down and watch a movie with mutant turtles? Hope shrugged and admitted defeat, before pointing at the Men In Black case and smirking at Belle. "It makes sense," she reasoned.

* * *

"It does." Belle nodded sagely, smirking as well. "It'd be nice, also, to reinstate my faith in black-suited men. Mr 'Permission from the President' doesn't have anything on Will Smith!"


	5. Chapter 5

Ten minutes later, laden with heavily buttered popcorn, Doritos and fruit-flavoured ice pops, the unlikely group of movie watchers sat guffawing appreciatively at the antics of the protagonist and arguing over the likeliness of some characters outdoing others.

"I don' care what you say, Mikey." said Raphael through a thick mouthful of confections. "Zed ain't got nothin' on K! K's got his head screwed the right way round."

Donatello soon joined them, geeking about the scientific possibilities and improbabilities the gadgets in the film presented.

"I mean, there's a definite chance a sonic ray-gun like that could be built. But at that size? It would take decades to progress a weapon like that further from anything smaller than the square units of a large van!"

When questioned about his discussion with Splinter, he merely stated: "He was just worried about me." And turned his attention back to his ramblings.

Leo showed up eventually as well, though he only lingered near the entrance to what looked to be the kitchen, watching the group's exchanges. His brothers took no notice of this, and it seemed that he chose regularly not to interact on occasions like these. Although Belle, who sympathized with the eldest being a naturally introverted person herself, thought she could feel his eyes on the back of her head frequently while her gaze was directed at the screen.

* * *

It wasn't long before Hope caved in and interjected Donatello's monologue-ing with her own views.

"Okay, _Donnie_ , if you're going to tear apart every sci-fi movie ever made, then we'll be here all day," Hope snapped, halting him to silence. "Personally, I believe these works of fiction to heighten the mind, and inspire new ideas. There's no fun in picking it apart, especially when it's such a good movie." She rolled her eyes at herself, knowing that she was being ridiculous. There was just something about the smug way he talked, like he knew he was the most intelligent, and that no one would tell him otherwise. Perhaps, she thought, they were both as stubborn as each other, in that they equally were used to being the smartest person in the room.

Every moment that Belle was conversing with his family, watching the screen, or just listening to the discussion, Leo would sneak glances at her. He gritted his teeth, angry with himself for letting his… feelings, or whatever they were, cloud his judgment. The air around her was filled with positivity, something he was just not adjusted to. She reminded him vaguely of his happy-go-lucky brother, always seeing the good in things. He wanted her to stay, even if he battled with the notion constantly.

* * *

Donnie sat grumbling to himself the remainder of the movie. Hope acted like he was some huge show-off. How was it his fault if he liked to talk about sci-fi!? _And besides_ , he thought to himself, _it wasn't like she was any better_. Trying to one-up him constantly, make him look bad! Raph and Mikey were sending him teasing looks out the corner of their eyes as though they knew something he didn't. Well, he wasn't going to let them get to him, he thought. Not them or Little Miss Blondie, who seemed to have a lot to say about him. Her and her stupid, accusing glares and… and baby blue eyes!

"Donatello?" Belle asked inquiringly. "Are you alright?"

"Fine. Just fine."

"You're mumbling." She smirked, eyebrow arched.

"I don't mumble!"

"Uh, yeah, you do Don!" Raph threw his arm over the back of the sofa to reach over Belle and flick Donnie's temple with his thumb and forefinger. His arm, Belle noticed suspiciously, did not move from its spot behind her shoulders once he hit his target.

Donnie put his glasses back on straight, which had become skew when Raphael flicked the side of his head, and scoffed. He pointed his gaze towards the television as an obvious end to the conversation.

* * *

Leo cautiously oversaw the heated discussion between his brothers and Belle from the door way. He pondered on whether or not he should enter the room and sit with them. However, when he saw Raphael's arm creep around Belle's shoulders, his heart sank lower than he thought possible.

 _What was it with this girl_? How had she managed to have such a strong effect on him? He felt a sudden urge to attack his brother, pull him off of her and mark his territory. Eyes wide with the horror at his thoughts, he slunk out of the area and proceeded to the kitchen to clear his mind.

The remainder of the movie was watched with a thick atmosphere coating the air. Hope could hardly focus on the images; she had numerous calculations whirring through her head, mostly about how she could get a sample from one of these mutants and escape back to her lab.

A pang of guilt stabbed her as she concocted a plan. Could she really leave her new friend behind with these monsters? Belle seemed so at ease with them, not even batting an eyelid when the largest of them draped his arm around her. Could it be that they were capable of lustful feelings, even love?

She attempted to swat away the thoughts plaguing her mind, but her eyes settled on Donnie, who was staring at the screen, his lips pursed into a thin line. Hope traced his face with her vision, taking in all the details of his potholed skin. His ragged purple mask sat behind his large glasses, magnifying his eyes twofold. She'd always had a thing for guys in glasses, it seemed to amplify their intelligence. His large forest-green eyes darted back and forth across the moving pictures on the screen, and finally turned to lock right on to hers.

Hope averted her gaze briskly, praying he hadn't seen her watching him. She tucked a stray stand of hair behind her ear and pulled her knees in closer to her body.

* * *

Don continued to gaze at Hope. Had he just imagined her staring at him? Leaning back to escape her peripheral vision, he allowed his eyes to rake over her profile. He didn't know what she was playing at, sending him nasty looks and shutting him down only to stare at him when he wasn't looking…

He steadily began to appreciate her aesthetics. Hope had a very pleasing bone structure. Everything about her nose to her chin and cheekbones made her very easy on the eyes. He also found himself liking her hair, which, albeit a bit messy, was straight and sleek, and looked very soft.

With a start, he realized that the music he was hearing was the end credits to the movie. Raph and Mikey, without the flashing images to sate them, were arguing once again. This time about pizza. This was a type of argument Donnie could get behind.

"No, no, no!" He butted into the conversation, getting up to follow his brothers to the kitchen. And slightly glad for an excuse to forget that he had just been staring at one of their visitors. "If we're getting anything it should be shrimp! Shrimp!"

* * *

Now that they were alone, Hope grabbed the chance to leap onto the battered old sofa next to Belle and quiz her. "I think Raphael likes you. He seems to have asserted his dominance over you. What do you reckon?" She asked barely above a whisper.

She had to hear Belle's opinion on the matter, especially now that she'd felt an odd attraction to one of them. Not a feeling she wanted to hold on to for long.

The raised voices of the turtles could be heard from the living area, each one putting forward a convincing argument for rather strange pizza toppings.

* * *

It felt like a cold, numb fist had clutched her stomach, right behind her sternum. She had known, or suspected, that Raphael was coming on to her. But the way Hope said it set off a blaring red alarm in her head.

Closing her eyes for a moment to compose herself, she whispered back with a slight croak, "'Asserted dominance?!'" She glanced around quickly to check that the others were far from hearing distance, then leaned in to continue.

"What do you mean by 'asserted his dominance'? You can't tell me that these guys are like animals, Hope, even though they look like it!"

As the words left her mouth, she knew there was a chance that some animal-like instincts had remained preserved in their mutant bodies. Thinking widely, Belle cast her eyes deep into Hope's pupils and spoke softly and in a voice that was both reassuring and commanding. "You said that Bishop guy was a 'rival' of yours. You study that ooze stuff, mutagen?"

Hope nodded.

"And you know about its effects?"

She nodded again.

"Then you believe that Raphael has some intention of…" She prayed for strength, "…of mating with me? That he is some kind of… alpha?"

* * *

It was possible. Without further study, Hope couldn't establish if these guys had been humans or turtles before mutating. Perhaps they were some sort of experiment? Not unlike the tests she'd been recently carrying out on frogs and lizards?

In response to Belle's question, Hope sighed, conflicted. On one hand she needed to get the hell out of there, but she sure wasn't leaving Belle behind. On the other, her theory might just be correct; what if they did plan to mate with them?

She shuddered at the thought.

"Look, Belle, not to appear blunt, but how old are you? You can't be more than, what, 18? 19? You are more than likely stinking of pheromones, and god knows what that could be doing to them. I've theorised that they will all start fighting over you soon. I mean, listen to them. They're acting like children, fighting over pizza, of all things. What do you think they'll do to you once they decide the pizza isn't enough to fuel their desires…?"

She ended on an ominous note. It wasn't that she wanted to scare Belle, more coax her into making her own decision to leave.

* * *

"All of them?" Belle questioned. She was highly doubtful of that fact.

Truthfully, she reasoned in her own head, Raphael was the only one of the four who had showed possible interest. Michelangelo was… rather flirtatious, but in a joking, self-imposed manner. Belle simply couldn't imagine those cheerful blue eyes of his clouded by lust or any other less than pleasant emotion.

She supposed that Leonardo, who seemed to have a history of rough sibling rivalry with Raphael, was the most likely to fight him. But over her? For dominance? She just couldn't picture that. Leonardo, from what she had seen, was uncommonly gentlemanly. He was stoic, mature and seemed unusually adept at controlling his emotions. Particularly for a young man of his age…

That left Donatello, and with a dawning sense of comprehension, Belle saw what Hope did not want her to see.

Her words echoed in the back of Belle's mind, sounding like from a tinny old radio. But this time she heard the panicky undertone that her friend valiantly tried to hide.

 _"_ _What do you reckon…?"_

She gave Hope a gentle smirk, slightly teasing but in no way intrusive. "All of them?" She repeated. "You're saying that every one of those mutants will end up fighting over me? …Hope," Belle placed a hand on her friends shoulder. "I saw you looking at Donatello."

* * *

Hope almost choked on her own saliva. Had it been that obvious? Surely not. It was no more than a fleeting look, and how could Belle even suggest that she… no. From her tone, she was implying that she had some sort of attraction to Donatello… Did she? No. He was an annoying show off who thought himself better than her. There was no way she could ever think of him in that way…

"What? No, that's ludicrous. I wasn't… I haven't…" she spluttered, attempting, and failing, to compose herself. She shifted her weight and turned to face Belle on the couch.

"It's only a matter of time before they all feel that animalistic urge take over them. I can see it in Leonardo's eyes, the way he looks at you… He's not happy with Raphael putting his mark on you. You must see it," Hope successfully changed the subject, and the sudden change in Belle's eyes told her so.

* * *

Belle thought she might have looked like she was studying Hope's face with intensity, but she was really staring into space, diving into the depths of her most recent memories to try and remember any time that Leonardo had looked at her in such a way. She could think of none, and that calmed her for only a bit before she slowly realized that she really had no proof that Leonardo hadn't ever looked at her like that, because he always seemed to avert his eyes as quickly as possible when she looked his way.

But, no! She remembered when he had asked her to keep the mutants' identities secret, and he had looked at her so openly that she was sure he was x-ray-ing her. _He was thinking about his family, protecting them! He's a gentleman, like I thought. He wouldn't risk hurting me, he still owes me for saving his brother and swearing secrecy._

"Leonardo can't… be like that!" Belle said aloud, trying to convince herself as much as Hope. "Even if it's true that he… he looks at me weird behind my back, he's honourable! They all are! Why would they be so hospitable if…" She didn't finish the sentence, but she could see that Hope caught the implication in what remained unsaid. She frowned, suddenly hurt for some indescribable reason. "Don't - …please don't pretend that you haven't seen what I've seen! These guys are intelligent! Sentient! They proved tonight that they are more human than that Bishop man who captured Donnie and… and hurt him!" She could remember the sharp smack that had resonated through the walls of the warehouse leading into the lab. It was that sound that drove her to proceed into the chamber with the mutagen. That was how she had gotten into this abnormal scene.

* * *

Hope could see that there was no reasoning with her. She'd already made up her mind, and that was to sit around watching movies and eating pizza with these, for lack of a better word, creatures.

She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but unlike Belle, she didn't feel one hundred percent safe in the hands of the mutants. There was a doubt, buried deep within, that terrified her to the core. The fact that something might take over them, and force them into a difficult situation.

Taking a shaky breath, Hope nodded. "So, you're staying with them, then? You feel safe? Even… without me here?" As she added the last part Belle looked shocked and hurt, but didn't say a word. This was the answer she needed. "Well I'm leaving," Hope told her firmly. "I'm not hanging about to play house with these guys. Sorry."

* * *

Belle cast aside her disappointment. Admittedly, she did feel more secure with her friend there. But if Hope was uncomfortable than Belle didn't want to hold her back.

She breathed and said "Okay." Giving her a grateful smile for holding out this long in her disquiet. "Be safe out there…"

* * *

"Here," Hope handed her a business card with her address and cell number on it. "If you ever need me." She shot a glance at the bustle of bodies in the kitchen area and then she was gone.

The turtles returned with smug smiles on their faces, ready to receive their various pizzas. Leo was the first to notice Hope's absence.

"We seem to be missing one?" He shrugged, scratching his dome. "Belle…?" his question hung in the air as his shining eyes locked on hers.

* * *

Belle thought it would be best to tell the truth. Or, at least half of it. She could not shake the feeling that Leo's eyes were giving her an x-ray.

"She's gone." Belle said. Her brain, adjusted to filling potholes in conversations, came up with a suitable half-lie. "She wanted to leave earlier because she has important research to catch up on about Bishop… That man who captured Donnie." She added helpfully, knowing that three of the brothers before her did not know who that was. "She wants to keep in touch. She left me her card and everything."

"Oh." Donatello appeared slightly crestfallen. Belle thought she knew why. "Okay…"

* * *

Leo studied Belle for a moment, trying the determine if she was telling the truth or not. The way her eyes darted away from his, settling down to her hands, told him all he needed to know. He decided to keep this information to himself.

"Alright. Pizza is on its way now. What do we want to do now? Watch another movie? Or you could tell us a little bit about yourself, Belle? Since you already know so much about us…" Again she refused to meet his gaze and he looked to his brothers for help. "Donnie? Ideas?"

* * *

"Uh…" Donatello didn't feel like doing much else. Watching Men in Black was a good way to recuperate slightly, but he was still bushed from spending two days chained up in various places in Bishops lab. "I think I'll turn in for the night, guys."

Belle looked up at him in concern, but didn't ask how he was. She loathed to think that anything bad happened to him before her and Hope showed up.

"I'm tired too." Raph said to general surprise. "Maybe we should all call it a night. It's pretty dark out… Belle could probably stay until mornin'…"

Belle felt the muscles in the back of her neck tense the way they always did when she was suspicious of something.

* * *

"You can sleep in my bed!" Michelangelo piped up, flashing a cheeky wink at Belle.

"Mikey!" Leo snapped and struck him up the back of his head.

"Dude! Let me finish!" Mikey raised his hands defensively and turned back to the girl sitting nervously on the couch. "I'll sleep here," he finished and aimed his sarcastic smirk at his oldest brother.

"No offence… but I don't exactly think your bed is fit for a… lady…" Leo raised his eyebrow at Belle to show his jest. "How about we let you decide, huh?" He cocked his head at Belle, waiting for her to answer.

* * *

"I… I really don't want to take up any room." Belle nervously played with the three interlocked silver rings on her ring finger. It was a purity ring. "Honestly, I don't need to stay here. I can catch a late bus to my apartment -"

She was cut off by a series of protests and fluttering hand gestures.

"Too dangerous!" Donatello popped his head back into the room from where he had retreated. "At this time of night? You obviously don't know New York like we do!"

"Okay, so…" She let out a tiny groan. She felt like both options, going out alone late at night or staying with the turtles, could go horribly wrong. In the end she decided that she was safer in the turtles' lair. At least the rat master Splinter was around… Where ever he had gone to.

After much discussion and chivalrous offerings from each turtle to sleep in their vacant beds, Belle convinced them that she was perfectly comfortable on the couch. She later felt glad of her decision. After the pizzas had arrived, three of the turtles left to go enjoy their dinner in bed, but they all headed into the exact same room. She smiled when she saw this. Almost grown young men still sleeping so near to one another? She found it positively endearing.

* * *

Leonardo disappeared for a moment inside Splinter's chambers, and when he came out again, followed by his father, he uttered a hasty goodnight without really looking at her and went to his brothers' and his shared bedroom.

Splinter, who seemed much less plagued by doubts of her trustworthiness now that Donatello had clued him in on the night's events, treated her with all the hospitality she would have expected for a noblewoman. He bundled her up in thick blankets and offered her some slightly ragged but spotlessly clean nightclothes that she politely refused. She didn't want to be walking around in the morning with no bra.

He then served her hot tea of a flavour she had never tasted before and wished her good dreams, leaving the room with no lights on save for a flickering candle on the coffee table. Exhaustion caught up with Belle as her head hit the pillow, and she fell asleep to the sound of grunting snores in the near distance.

* * *

Leonardo's sleep that night was uneasy to say the least. Staring blankly at the dull grey ceiling, waiting for a peaceful rest that never came. Every time he closed his eyes his head began to fill with images of her face at an alarming rate. He blinked, desperate to rid himself of the thoughts, but more pilled on regardless. It was a relentless battle of fighting to fall asleep and thinking about her soft golden hair. How he wished he could run his fingers through it, hear her gentle moans at his touch…

 _Stop it, Leo!_ He scolded himself, _even if by some miracle she found herself falling for an ugly mutant like you, she'd go for Raph before you._

He sighed heavily, focusing on a damp spot on the wall and ran his hand over the top of his head, waiting for morning to come.


	6. Chapter 6

Morning did come. Except there was no bleeping of car horns or bright morning sunlight peeking through the crack in the drapes of Belle's bedroom.

Because, as she remembered excitedly, she was not in her bedroom.

She lay awake for a while, consciously aware of the salty smell of bacon and tangy wafts of cooking eggs from the kitchen. As she lifted her torso from the cushions in a lazy morning sit-up Belle noticed that a mug of steaming tea was already waiting for her, suspended in front of her by a thick muscled arm. She met Leonardo's eyes.

"Morning." She said quietly. As always, she was unwilling to exert herself after just exiting the peacefulness of sleep. She took the hot cup from him gratefully, giving him a soft smile. "Thank you. Very kind of you…"

He responded with a small smile of his own, and then he took off towards the kitchen, where Belle watched him sit down at the table, nursing his own mug of tea. She stood and shuffled over, looking around the room with interest. Michelangelo was at the stove, and Donatello was pouring himself a big cup of black coffee. "Training this morning." He informed, glancing up at her. "The others have all decided to let you stay and watch, if you don't have anything else to do."

Since it was a Saturday and Belle had no desire to leave on such short notice, she agreed to stay.

Breakfast passed by sluggishly, but not without the pleasantries of present company. Soon, Leonardo led the way towards a dark room that Belle hadn't yet noticed. Splinter waited at the entrance.

* * *

Leo bowed graciously to the rat as he entered the room. He was followed by his brothers who all mirrored his actions. A proud smile caught his lips as he spied Belle copying the gesture, if a little awkwardly. She was really something. He decided to show her exactly what he was capable of, and it filled him with exhilaration.

The room was impressively large, lit dimly by various candles dancing in the corners. The atmosphere there was that of tranquillity. Leo always felt calm here, it was where he came to clear his head. Ironically the very thing that had been burdening his mind was now slipping past him to gape in awe at the room.

"Welcome to our dojo," Leo grinned, opening his arms and spinning around the room to show it in all its splendour. "Take a seat, ma'am, and enjoy." He winked at her despite himself, and joined his brothers at their knees on the training mats.

* * *

Belle sat a little way behind Splinter, keen to watch the proceedings. The Sensei, after instructing his students to perform a series of complicated stretches and warm-ups, paired them up for hand-to-hand combat practice.

First was Raphael and Michelangelo. Belle watched in awe as they bowed to each other, a bit more half-heartedly than when they bowed to their father, and raised their forearms in stance.

There was a dull quiet. And then Mikey moved forward and the match began.

Mikey, true to his personality, fought with quick feet and a wide grin. There was no taunting, but Belle could tell that both turtles really, really wanted to.

Raphael responded to Mikey's deliberate feints and distracting missteps with the advantage of his bigger build. And while Mikey performed spinning jumps and swift ducks and dodges to avoid his component, Raph did everything in his power to get as close to him as possible.

Belle was dumbstruck by the dexterity and apparent ease at which they swung and kicked at each other. They moved as though they were the two ends of a scale. When one went up, the other went down. And on and on it went, the battle getting increasingly more heated until all Belle could see of the two boys was dual blurs of light and dark green. Neither could outdo the other, too used to each other's fighting style and skill sets to tip the scale for more than a few seconds before the fallen jumped up impressively and went back to fighting.

"Enough!" Splinter called. Immediately the fight ceased, and Belle's vision had to adjust to the sudden stillness. The rat's ears were tilted back, apparently displeased. Belle couldn't possibly imagine how he could be upset at them after such an amazing display. "Why have neither of you consented to finish your match?!" He snapped. "Too much time spent performing fancy moves in real battle will only delay the inevitable! A ninja must strike swiftly and end the battle as quickly as they can! Otherwise, they suffer the risk of relaying their prolonged appearance to other threats! We will try again later, when you two have learned that showing off is not the way of a ninja!"

Raphael and Michelangelo would not look at each other. Belle watched curiously as they each kept sending her glances. Mikey grinned at her as he moved to sit down next to Leonardo, whose cheeks had gone dark for some reason. Belle was too thrilled to think about why. What an amazing group of fighters!

* * *

There was no need to show off as such, Leonardo decided as he bowed deftly to Donatello. He would be on his A-game, and rather than producing fancy moves, which did seem to have gotten Belle rather excited, he'd win the fight and exhibit what a true ninja was.

Donatello lunged first with a left round punch, Leo swiftly dodged to the right and hooked him in the stomach. A grunt of displeasure escaped Donnie's throat, but he quickly recovered. Aiming a kick to Leo's side, which he easily blocked, Donnie glanced over at Belle, who's eyes were shining with excitement. Taking advantage of his brother's minute distraction Leo grabbed Don's leg and swiped under his remaining foot, sending him crashing to the ground. Leo hovered above him, pinning him down. "Surrender," he growled, his face inches from Donnie's. The defeated turtle struggled in his hold, but Leo only gripped him tighter. "I've won, Don. Surrender, now."

* * *

Belle watching with bated breath as Donnie gave a tiny, begrudging nod and Leonardo released him. As soon as he did, and the match had ended and Splinter started imparting constructive criticism to them both, Leonardo's eyes were on her. Belle could recognize when someone was waiting for praise.

Knowing that he more than deserved it, she gave him a wide smile and mimed a soft clap to congratulate him. His chest seemed to swell as he sat back down in front of his master.

"And now," Splinter said. "We begin weapons training."

He swivelled around to speak to Belle, bowing his head in subdued respect. "Please, Miss Belle, it would be best if you sat a little further away." Belle shuffled backwards a few feet.

* * *

This was the part he was most looking forward to. Surely no girl could resist his gleaming katanas and their sheer beauty? Leo and his brothers all darted to the weapons hold and selected their favourites.

He was more than proud of his swords, they marked him as the true leader, a warrior at that. He spun the blade impressively in his hand, the candle light reflecting perfectly off the smooth surface. Running his finger along the blunt side, he stared lovingly at the beauty and raised his eyes to his opponent.

Raphael raised his sais and nodded his head upward in a taunting fashion. Leo rose to the taunt, left eye twitching in irritation. If Raph wanted her, he'd have to fight for her. Leo's eyes darted fleetingly to Belle, who was watching them with anticipated curiosity. He swallowed hard and arched an eye ridge at his brother.

Suddenly there was a clash of metal on metal as the two brothers began to brawl. The blades of Leo's katanas held fast in the hooks of Raph's sais and they glared at each other, both struggling fiercely against the momentum.

Using Raph's strength to his advantage, Leo pulled back quickly, sending his brother flying past him. He regained his footing and lunged at Leo with a yell somewhere between anger and frustration. Dodging the obvious move, Leo smirked and swiped his blade past Raph's arm. It barely touched him, but it seemed to rile Raph up further and he snarled viciously, relentlessly jabbing at Leo.

There was no real structure to Raphael's fighting style, and Leo knew it. He fought through anger and it showed. His actions were unpredictable, but also sloppy, and Leo knew he could use that.

Raph growled once more and slashed away, trying to get a hit. That's when Leo struck, his katana blade slicing the air and wedging itself into the hook of the sai. The sudden jolt of momentum caught Raph off guard and he stumbled to the ground. Before he could correct himself, Leo pointed his blade at Raph's face and grinned. "I win," he said simply and withdrew his weapon, holding his hand out to help Raphael up.

* * *

Raph snarled at his older brother and refused his hand. Instead, he launched to his feet and got right up close to his face.

"I wanna rematch!" He growled.

"That will be enough, Raphael!" Splinter flexed his long tail and sent Raph stumbling away from Leo, who had taken a sudden, threatening step forward. The rat looked livid, but not as much as his eldest son. "It is honourable to admit defeat and show respect to your victor!" He paused, seething that for the second time that day, his sons were showing insolence. "…And it is also not good sportsmanship to be a sore loser, my son!"

Belle studied Leonardo as he stood, still glaring at his brother. Hope's words echoed back to her, haunting…

But then Leo's head turned and he looked right at her, and she felt no need to look away. She remembered her own words; Honourable. Intelligent. Stoic… Mature…

Splinter was instructing Mikey and Donnie to begin their own weapons match, but he paused to speak to her.

"Miss Belle, I am sorry to present to you my sons sacred training session and fighting skills under such proceedings. I assure you, this behaviour in our dojo is most uncommon and irregular."

"It's alright, really." Belle smiled at the rat, who she was now on good terms with. "I'm just happy to… to have seen all this!"

Splinter smiled graciously. "It is now ten in the morning. If you would like to leave here and go home, I would not object. My sons will be staying in this room for many hours to come." Michelangelo let out a very audible whine. Donatello, a groan.

Belle accepted, feeling the need for a trip to her favourite corner store. She said goodbye to the turtles and bowed to Splinter. As she left the room, she looked back at the boys and commended them on their fighting. Then she lingered in the living room before heading out into what now felt like a very distant, surreal outside world.


	7. Chapter 7

Reality didn't quite feel enough anymore. How could working with small mutagen samples and dissecting frogs possibly live up to meeting five very real mutants? The answer was simple: it didn't. If Hope were going to get anywhere with her research then she was going to need a proper sample, one that could actually give her an idea of what this substance was capable of.

Her mind was whirring like the centrifuge before her, both coming up trumps. If she thought hard enough about it, she was no better than Bishop; after all, he'd more than likely kidnapped Donatello for the very same reason. To retrieve his DNA.

 _Donatello_ … Hope heaved a conflicted sigh as his eyes popped into her head. He was a jerk. A stupid, smug jerk. Then why did every lull in her thoughts contain him? This wasn't what she wanted, not what she had expected her first encounter with a mutant to be. No. He was just an arrogant, self-centred, egotistical… "Stop thinking about him!" She cursed out loud, springing from her seat.

There was still a glaring hole in her calculations, and Hope knew, without a doubt, that she needed some of those turtles' blood to analyse. It was just a question of how. It had been more than a week since their encounter, and she'd heard from neither the turtles nor Belle. She envisioned them all cuddled up of the couch watching movies and scoffing pizza. A sense of loneliness washed over her then. Is that what she wanted? She shook her head at her own internal question. Of course it wasn't. She worked alone. That's the way she liked it.

* * *

An upsurge of difficult assignments in the studio, plus a worrying decrease in her income, meant that Belle was officially unattainable and thoroughly out of commission for a full fortnight after departing the turtles lair.

At night, she dreamed wacky collages of pizza, spinning swords and sai and tall men in dark suits. At the end of the first week, Belle thought that it was a shame she hadn't the time or the means of contacting her friends in the sewers. At the end of the second, she began wondering if they were ever there in the first place.

"Ooh…" She let out a huge sigh as she dumped her bag on the floor after a long bus ride from the store where she worked part time. Dragging her feet towards the couch, she felt a deep longing to know what exactly the five mutants were doing right now. If indeed they were real at all, or if she was simply delusional from working so hard these last couple of weeks.

"Wait." She whispered, remembering something vital.

Hope! She was a real person. If Belle could contact her, then surely she could share in the curiosity.

Belle hurried to into her bedroom and began throwing apart piles of heavy blankets and art folders to find her jacket. The one she had worn that night…

Eureka! With a cry of success, Belle pulled a crisp, clean card from one of the jackets pockets. On it was a phone number, email and work address. It was almost 9… should she call?

* * *

 _Bzzzt. Bzzzt. Bzzzt._

Hope's eyes shot open at the muffled sound of what she could only determine as her phone. Scrambling aimlessly around her desk, flinging the various papers onto the already littered floor, she finally found it and smashed the answer key.

"Hope Brevin," she answered groggily, still not fully awake after being rudely awoken from her nap. She soon sobered up when she heard Belle's excited voice chittering on the other end.

"Woah, hold on… yes… yes I remember meeting them. Wait. Stop. Do you want to meet up? Okay, you have my address, just come over tomorrow and we can chat, okay?" Hope hung up and stared at her disorganised lab. She had a lot of cleaning to do if she was going to have a guest over. Sighing heavily, she pushed herself up from the desk chair and got to work.

* * *

Belle was so glad to hear her friend's voice again. She mused to herself that she didn't really have many friends, other than family members. All the people who she laughed and got along so well with at her regular hangs and the studio were basically only acquaintances. But, she supposed, like Harry Potter himself had reasoned in the first book, there were some things that you couldn't share with someone without ending up liking them. For The Golden Trio it was knocking out a mountain troll. For Belle and Hope it was rescuing a giant turtle mutant from a mad scientist/agent man who worked for the American government.

She got dressed the following morning, calling the studio to explain that something very important had come up regarding her mental health.

Well, it was sort of true.

She googled a route to Hope's place from the card she had left her and decided to take the bus. It was only a 20 minute ride. Not bad considering the size of New York.

Finally she was she was standing at the door. Aware that she was consciously controlling the level of her breathing, she knocked and waited patiently for door to open.

* * *

The tinny rattle from the warehouse door startled Hope as she downed her third cup of coffee. They hadn't exactly settled on a time, so instead of busying herself with experiments and theory writing, she'd sat in the kitchen area twiddling her thumbs.

Placing the cup on the counter, she made her way to the huge corrugated entrance and slid the door open. There stood Belle, eyes shining bright. How did that girl manage to look so good for a Monday morning? Hope's dishevelled, platinum hair was the opposite of Belle's shiny do, like she'd just walked off a catwalk.

Hope gave Belle her best morning smile, which more than likely came off as a grimace. "Come on in, excuse the mess, I was going to tidy up last night after you called, but I passed out again."

It was blatantly obvious that Hope's lab was also where she slept. A small tattered mattress in the corner, and makeshift shower area, were more than enough to give this fact away. The rest of the lab had no apparent organisation whatsoever. Half-finished theories were strewn across a cluttered desk, various experiments set up on a fire damaged worktop were bubbling away in beakers, and the large flat screen television, sat above an array of computer equipment, was screening off some sort of results.

Ushering Belle to her desk chair and parking herself on the worktop, Hope began to brew another cup coffee. "So, what's going on? Why were you freaking out on the phone yesterday?"

* * *

"Oh, I was just worried that I was crazy and imagined the whole thing a few weeks ago." Belle was a little embarrassed to show how anxious she had been about the whole ordeal, and she was looking around the room interestedly. "You know, I like this lab. Bishop's place was so cold and unatmospheric. This place has character." And she gave Hope a smile.

* * *

Hope chuckled softly, pouring a brew into her stained mug. "Well thanks, it's not much, but it _is_ home." She was very aware of how comfortable she felt with Belle there. It wasn't often she let people into her personal life, let alone her home. It seemed this friendship was blooming beautifully, like a new flower hybrid. "Anyway, no, you didn't imagine anything, they were… are… real. Though I've not heard a peep out of them since I left," she paused, wondering what events had taken place after her brisk departure.

"What… happened…? After I left you?" She asked hesitantly, taking a large swig of coffee. All sorts of scenarios flooded her mind, mostly around her last warning to Belle; that the turtles would turn on her. Though as she studied the girl's face, she could see no sign of under lying upset, no torment in her composure. Maybe she'd been wrong after all.

* * *

"Oh, not much." Belle began fiddling with her ring absently. "Donatello was tired, so he went to bed. Everyone else just followed him with their pizzas."

She remembered how well she was treated by Splinter when she decided to spend the night and smiled. "If you had stayed, you would have been treated like royalty! Splinter was the best host anyone could ask for. I'm telling you, hot tea, blankets… He let me stay the night, you know? And uh…" She caught the concerned look Hope gave her and interpreted it well. "Nothing happened. They were all very gentlemanly and even offered to give up their beds to me. What's funny is they all sleep in the same room! Haha!"

* * *

Hope blinked a couple of times, dumbfounded. She… stayed the night? Granted her retelling of the evening seemed innocent enough, but she stayed with them… all night?

She didn't know what to say, so she just nodded in reply and pointed at the large flat screen on the wall.

"See that? Those are the tests I'm currently running. I think that Bishop was trying to use the mutagen in Donatello's blood to create something powerful," she watched as Belle locked her eyes on the screen. They were slightly glazed over making it obvious that she didn't understand what she was looking at, but Hope carried on regardless.

"Pure mutagen is rare to find. I only have a few vials myself, but Bishop had a whole vat of the stuff. That means that he doesn't need the turtles for anything other than experimenting on them. I think he chose Donnie because he's…" she gritted her teeth, begrudging saying the word, "very intelligent. Bishop needs something from him, I just don't know what…" she trailed off and glared at the screen of running numbers. "But I intend to find out."

* * *

 _Stzzz - Krrrrr - Stzzzzzz_

Belle jumped in her seat as the screen became alive with harsh static. "What the…?"

The image seemed to be cutting from the diagrams Hope had shown her and something new. As the two girls watched, the sound of static was momentarily interrupted by a familiar voice. There were a lot of green pixels showing up…

"It's Don!" Belle leaped to her feet and beamed at the monitor, waiting anxiously as it struggled to pick up the feed. Hope mirrored her action, but didn't seem quite as glad to see a mutant hacking into her systems.

"Hello? - _Krsssh_ \- Hello, hel - _Krssshhh_ \- lo? It's me! Ha! I did it! Took long enough..."

"Donnie!"

"Belle! Hey! What are you doing at Hope's place? Oh…" He had just noticed Hope standing and glaring at him. "Well… At least I didn't have to hack into your TV too, like I thought."

* * *

The familiarity in which he addressed Belle irked Hope somewhat, and she stood with her arms folded, narrowing her eyes at the screen.

Of course it had to be him. Of all the smart-ass ways he'd use to get in touch, he just had to choose this way. All the conflicted feelings she'd had since leaving him… them… suddenly dissipated and she was left with a pure and firm anger in the pit of her stomach.

"What do _you_ want?" She asked staly, the word 'you' emphasising her full on displeasure at his hack.

* * *

"For your information..." He said, being snarky, "It wasn't my idea. Leo asked Sensei if we could bring you guys around again. Well… technically, everyone was wondering what you were up to, Belle, and then Leo asked to have you over again."

"Of course I'd like to come over again!" Belle was thrilled at the prospect. She had missed them all more than she thought she might. "What do you think, Hope?"

* * *

She scoffed, turning her back to the screen. Even if it wasn't his idea to contact them, he'd still done it in a ridiculously over the top manner, and it grated at her.

Glancing over her shoulder, her lips pursed into a thin line, "Even so, why are you contacting me first? You had no reason to believe that Belle was with me…" she knew that she should just let it go, but for all intents and purposes she felt like he was pushing her, testing her on her patience. And it was wearing thin.

Before he could reply she spun around and addressed Belle. "I'll come with you, but not because I want to play house with these guys," her eyes darted briefly to the screen, just long enough to aim her annoyance at the scratchy image of Donatello, "I'll be there to study and observe only," she told Belle firmly, quietly enough for the turtle in the other end to miss her words entirely.

* * *

Belle couldn't say that she thought it was very likely that Hope could continue to hang around with the mutants if all she wanted to do was 'study and observe'. She remembered very well their gracious hospitality when last she saw them, and didn't want Hope to taint their impression of them.

She sighed and said, "Hope, you do you, okay? But keep in mind that these guys are risking a lot, their lives, and safety as a matter of fact, to keep us around. I want us both to be grateful for that. Cool?"

Hope gave a tiny nod of assent and Belle focused back on the turtle on screen, who was leaning out of shot and speaking in hushed tones to what sounded like his father. Belle wanted to cry out 'Hello Master Splinter!' But thought better of it. She'd see him again soon anyway, she smiled.

"Okay, you two!" Donnie leaned back into shot. "Expect your escorts in about five minutes, tops!" And there was static once again as he shut down his hack. Numbers and diagrams were streaming across the monitor like nothing had happened.

* * *

"Why do we need escorts…?" Hope started, but was cut short by a stern look from Belle. She held up her hands in defeat and mumbled under her breath. She understood why they might want to see Belle again; she was pretty and headstrong, and that was what men liked, wasn't it?

What she couldn't fathom, however, was for what reason they could possibly need her, Hope. She had made it abundantly clear that she wasn't interested in befriending the mutants, so what was their angle here?

Before she could get another thought in, there was a loud banging at the door and they both jumped out of their skin. "That was fast," Hope commented, making her way to the entrance. She pulled the heavy door open and gasped as she was shoved back into the lab. "What the-"

Three burly men forced their way in, pointing a gun at Hope's head. "Loot everything! Leave nothing untouched!" He instructed and his goons began ransacking everything.

* * *

Belle's mouth opened to cry out, but nothing made its way past her lips. She watched, struck dumb, as the men began rifling through everything in sight.

One man, rather short yet thick with muscle, swiped his hands over every inch of a tall bookshelf, sending everything it housed onto the floor. After its shelves were stripped bare, he toppled the whole structure over and moved on to the next thing he could find.

The first man stayed near the door, his gun point-blank between Hope's eyes. Belle felt like she should be more frightened, but some sunken section of her brain that only seemed to reveal itself in times of crisis rationalized that the only way he would shoot was if she gave him reason to. And Hope was standing completely still.

Belle's petrifaction subsided instantaneously when her shock was replaced by offended anger.

Outraged, she fired questions at the three men as they continued to destroy Hope's belongings.

"Who are you?"

"What are you doing!?"

Her eyes were quick to trace their every move, and it was with triumph that she realized that though they searched and capsized everything in sight, they bagged nothing but the hundreds of notes lying over every surface. They were only searching for research… The answer for what dropped down to Belle like a lifeline that she seized as she barked:

"Come to do Bishop's dirty work?!" Every eye turned to her. She gave a wide smirk.

"How unfortunate… for him, of course. One can only imagine how devastating it would be to his reputation if word got out that such a prestigious government official was to blame for sabotaging and thieving from his own rival!"

"Now, now… No need for that!" Belle took an instinctive step backwards when one of the two men who was rummaging through the desk drawers closed in on her menacingly. Surprisingly, she wasn't yet entirely frightened.

Maybe a little frightened, but… not entirely.

The thugs had taken threat from her little speech. Probably because their payment banks on Bishop's satisfaction with their work. She read it in their glinting eyes. They were being payed to steal, not to kill. The gun is insurance… _They won't shoot us because Bishop doesn't want to be found out._

"Easy…" Belle's voice rang with nervous bravery. "I don't intend to sabotage your work… gentleman?" Looking around at their scabby faces, she didn't think it likely that they were very gentlemanly at all. "I'm sure we can reach some kind of agreemen- Hey!"

* * *

"I'm just sayin', if you had to choose, which one wouldya take?"

"Mikey, for the last time, they're women, not objects, you don't _choose_ them," Leo chastised his brother as they meandered through the streets. He'd decided himself that he wanted to go and pick up the girls, and by process of elimination, he'd begrudgingly selected Mikey to be his partner.

"I think I'd take a shot at the blonder one," Mikey decided crudely, forcing a disgruntled sigh to escape Leo's lips.

"Hope, her name is Hope, and there will be no 'taking shots' at either of them! Keep your voice down, it's just around this corner." They turned into a short alleyway, with large warehouses lining the walls. Leo spotted the one he was searching for, a smaller one with a sign sporting Hope's surname.

"Wanna bet that I can make her fall for me?"

"Mikey! There will be no-" he was cut short as they neared the lab, by the shine of a silver object. Leo's heart began hammering in his chest. He sensed trouble. He grabbed Mikey and began gesturing to him silently. Mikey nodded in understanding and crept into the shadows.

There was no way they could go in all guns blazing; the man with the gun to Hope's head would more than likely get a shot off before Leo could do anything. Nor could he try and negotiate; again, that gunman would be far too fast. He opted to take a different route, round the back of the warehouse to see if there were any-

 _Wait_.

That was Belle's voice he was hearing.

All plans went out the window and Leo burst into the warehouse quickly disarmed the gunman and headed directly to Belle.

* * *

Just as Belle was grabbed by her collar, the door crashed open and there was a momentary whirl of movement as the first man had the gun fly out of his hand and he fell to the ground, groaning meekly.

And there stood Leonardo, nostrils flaring as he breathed hard. Belle had just the time to have the impression that her friend had puffed up to twice his regular size before he dashed towards her like a knife through the air and the man who was holding her was slumped against the wall. Completely incapacitated.

* * *

"What the heck?" Mikey exclaimed out loud when he saw Leo burst in, completely out of character. His oldest brother was usually so concise, formulating a perfect plan before doing anything rash. Especially in this sort of mission, where the bad guys didn't know they were coming. He'd noticed that the gun man at the door had been quickly disarmed, but, not, Mikey concluded, for Hope's safety.

 _It was so that he could reach Belle first._

"Wow, he's got it bad…" Mikey chuckled to himself as he entered the lab, which was now void of danger. There was still an ominous air of threat about the warehouse, so Mikey took it upon himself to at least get Hope out of jeopardy.

"Hey…" he scooped her up into a bridal hold and gave her his best smile. She looked utterly terrified, and he understood why. She didn't seem like the type of girl to have a gun forced between her eyes on a regular basis. "S'ok, you're safe now…" Hope nodded numbly in his arms, trembling violently, but she seemed to take some comfort in his familiarity, as she clung desperately to his neck.

After incapacitating the attacker, Leo immediately went to Belle's side and took her face in his hands. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?" He asked urgently.

"Bro! We need to go, _now_!" Mikey called from the door.

Leo growled at him, a low guttural noise that he usually reserved for more dire situations. However, the thought of Belle being hurt, even minutely, made an animalistic instinct to protect her engulf him. "Come on," he mirrored his brother's hold on Hope and they escaped briskly before the men could wake up.

* * *

Belle thought she must have hit her head somewhere, because all the contents inside were spinning so fast that she couldn't hold a thought for more than a second.

 _Leo…? How did…? Hope…? Where's Hope…?! Oh, there… Leonardo… held my face…?_

She blinked in the strobe-ing sunlight as the four of them leaped behind and out of the shadows of buildings. They were traveling at an alarming pace, with the intention to get as far away from the laboratory as possible.

Belle felt her cheeks flush as she dizzily remembered the feel of Leonardo's thick-skinned and blemished fingers probing her face. It was only now that she registered how extremely concerned he sounded for her. She felt both flattered and bewildered. In fact, she felt rather faint…

Her head dropped onto a hard-muscled shoulder. _Oh… he was carrying her… that was nice…_

Hope called her name from somewhere out in front of her. Belle looked groggily towards the sound. Hope was staring over Mikey's shoulder, undamaged. Belle felt reassured knowing her friend was unharmed.

She heard Leonardo, still running full-pelt towards who knew where, talking to her. She couldn't understand the words just now, but his tone had not changed from before, when he saved her. She mumbled a response.

"…Low… blood pressure…genetic…"


	8. Chapter 8

Next thing Belle knew, Leonardo was entering the lair behind the others, and her head had stopped spinning.

Leo lay a limp Belle down on the battered couch. She seemed to be slipping in and out on consciousness, and the words he could hear were completely incoherent. Panic began to rise in his chest as he gazed at her beautiful form. "Donnie!" He called, sure there was something more sinister at work here. "Donnie! Something's wrong with her, I think she's gone into shock!"

Hope, feeling utterly overwhelmed by the whole experience, refused to let go of Mikey once they were within the safety of the lair. He flashed a winning smile at her as she tucked her head into his neck. "It's okay, girl, you're safe now. I promise," he reassured, apprehensively patting her back.

* * *

"Hmmm…" Donatello darned his fancy specs and bent over Belle, reading her vitals. After a few seconds he stood back up with thumb and forefinger over his chin.

"Huh. I've never encountered someone like this before. Uh, there's nothing to worry about!" He added as he caught Leo's glare. "She isn't in shock… her blood pressure is just going low."

"How the heck is dat a good thing?!″ Raph stomped up to the couch and grabbed Don by the elbow. Don's goggles threatened to fall off his head as he was whirled around.

"It is, it is! Some people are just born with low blood pressure! The only real downside is that they're more prone to feeling faint if they move around too much! Ugh…" Don looked around at his clueless brothers. "Let me explain. When a person has low blood pressure, sometimes, when they move too quickly from a standing, lying down or sitting position, they feel a little faint because the blood in their body doesn't move fast enough to adjust, right? Well, Belle must have been pretty scared in that lab, so her blood was already pumping pretty fast. But, because her blood pressure is naturally low, when too much happened at once her blood failed to keep up."

"On the nose, Donnie…" Belle added. She had her eyes closed and was lying very still and limp. She wanted to wait a little while before getting up.

Leo crouched down and watched her rest. Don, however, had just noticed Hope cradled in Mikey's arms. Numbly, as though his emotions were on hold, he checked her vitals as well. She was a little shocked… but she'd be fine in a few minutes with Mikey. For some reason, Donnie didn't find comfort in the thought.

* * *

"I was worried I'd… we'd… lost you…" Leo mumbled as he hunched over Belle. "I'm just… I'm glad you're okay…" his words began to fail him and he chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head.

It suddenly dawned on him that he wasn't asking the questions that he should be and he stood tall, aiming his gaze at Hope. "What happened back there?" He demanded.

Mikey placed Hope on the ground, holding her around the waist to steady her. She gave him a grateful nod and began walking over to the couch. "I-I think those were Bishop's goons. They were looking for something. Most likely my latest mutagen research," she told Leo catching his concern.

"Well it's not safe to go back there, not until we've scoped the place out. That will have to wait until tomorrow, we need to make sure you ladies are fine first-"

"We're fine!" The girls cut him off in unison. Hope's first thought was to argue with him about her staying with them for the time being, but something told her that under the circumstances, after they'd more or less risked their lives to save the two of them, that a little more gratitude was in order.

"Th-thanks… For rescuing us…" she mumbled sheepishly, embarrassed by her own voice.

"No problem, brah!" Mikey chirped, giving her a playful punch on the arm as he passed her. "Let's order, I'm famished!"

Hope grinned in response, rubbing her arm slightly. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. Her eyes fell on Donatello, who was muttering incoherently to himself, and she stifled a smile. _Not so bad at all._

* * *

"Why are we doing this in the day?"

"Cause Splinta said those punks wouldn't show 'emselves in the day."

"Actually, he said it'd be less likely that they'd still be here after a day…"

"Shut up! How often d'you get ta see the city in broad daylight?"

"Not often. Unless you count whenever I hack into flying helicopter camera's overhead."

"What is wrong with you?!"

"You know I can't resist hacking into the blips on my custom satellite and radar!"

"Shut up, Donnie. Where're we goin'? I thought you knew tha way."

"I do! We're close, it's right around this… Oh."

"Well, dat's a shame."

"What do we tell Hope!? We can't just walk up to her and say, 'Hey, Hope, did you have a nice lunch? Oh good! By the way, someone set off a couple grenades in your lab!'"

"Sure we can, it's easy."

"It is for you because you're two-thirds of a ton of bricks! I can't tell Hope. You do it if you're so confident."

"You kiddin'? She'll throw a brick at my head."

"One more for the stock, then."

"Why you gotta be like that?"

"Come on, Butch, we should get home and get it over with."

"I'm standin' behind you."

"No way. I studied the sinews of her triceps this morning when she got sugar from the cupboard. She has good arm strength."

"Sissy."

"You wanted to stand behind me, recall it?"

"I'm calling you a sissy cause you can't keep your specs off 'er, Romeo."

"No comment. And you're one to talk about eyeing up women, Casanova."

"No comment. Get in the stinkin' sewers, smart-ass."

"After you, heathen."

"Wanna watch 'Pirates o' the Caribbean'?"

"You're covering snacks."

* * *

Hope was compulsively tapping her fingers in a disorganised rhythm on the kitchen table. She sat alone, feeling the urge for solitude, but conflictingly, not wanting to be alone, either. Leo clocked her obsessive drumming and pulled up the seat opposite her.

"Hope, you seem tense, is everything alright?"

She looked up into his worried sapphire eyes and immediately began wringing her hands. "I've not gone this long without working before. I feel… odd," she confessed, dry skin from her overworked hands flaking off and coating the table top with a light sprinkling.

"Don't you ever take a break?" Leo asked her, it suddenly dawning on him why she had such issues with Donatello. If she spent her life in isolation, working herself to the bone, it came as no surprise that she wasn't used to being confronted by someone of equal intelligence.

Hope mulled over his enquiry for a moment, wracking her brains to remember the last time she had felt fully relaxed. She shook her head slowly, staring at her damaged skin. "Well… no."

Her obvious confusion in the matter made him laugh quietly to himself. This girl needed loosening up. He stood up abruptly, startling her. "Come on, let's pay a visit to Master Splinter. I'm sure there's something he can do to ease your stress." He held out his hand and she tentatively took it. "Actually, both of you…" He added as an afterthought, his gaze falling on Belle, who sat deep in conversation with Mikey.

* * *

"Me?" Belle blinked at him and laughed. "Aren't I the one whose blood pressure ought to be higher?"

Still, she thought, it would be so fascinating to see what techniques Splinter recommends. Belle had always wanted to learn the secret of meditation. Sometimes, alone in her room and looping the same, slow music over her headphones, she had come close. How great would it be to finally be able to do it!

"You know what, I'll come!" She patted Mikey's shoulder in silent apology for cutting off their conversation. Hope cocked her brow at her. "What?" She said. "… Okay, I want to study meditation. Not that I really need it, but it might help if… I don't know. I just want to learn. Another tool under my belt, you know?" She smiled somewhat shyly and shrugged.

* * *

The girls followed Leo into the dojo room. For Hope, it was the first time seeing the majestic space, and she wondered in awe how they could possibly have built this down in the sewers. She began working out the various different steps that they may have taken to construct such a wondrous place, but soon scolded herself when she remembered why she was there.

Leo gestured to a large mat and politely asked them to sit. The women looked at each other both trying their hardest not to fall into a fit of giggles at the unusual situation. The turtle excused himself, explaining that he was going to check on his Sensei. "For now, I just want you to sit here and concentrate on breathing," he told them and disappeared behind a curtain.

"Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain," Hope mumbled and received a repressed snort from beside her. She knew that there was no way she could take this seriously. Meditation? It was just another form of hocus pocus voodoo. That didn't sit well with Hope. But Belle seemed to want to give it a go, and now that she'd somewhat befriended the turtles, she opted to partake, even just to study the scientific aspects of the process.

A couple of minutes passed and Leonardo returned, his chest puffed out proudly. "Splinter has asked me to take this session," he told them, a palpable sense of smugness radiating from him. "Let's begin."

The trio sat in a circle, all cross legged, breathing deeply. Leo had asked them to imagine themselves in a place where they felt secure, relaxed, positive. Naturally, Hope had delved straight into her lab. She kept opening one eye to check her surroundings, but if Leonardo had noticed this, he was not reprimanding her.

Leo watched as his new students' faces began to fall into that deep state of relaxation, it was one he'd seen many times. Seeing Belle in such a condition, her chest rising and falling delicately, hands resting gently on her knees, light hair falling in strands across her face, made him lose focus. His own breathing became shaky as he watched her, and he struggled to take control.

Suddenly, without any warning, he was hovering behind her, his large hands slipping around her waist. He breathed in the scent of her hair and pressed his face into it, feeling the silky mane against his skin. His legs engulfed her whole body, pulling her into him, marking her, making her his.

"Leo?"

"Oh…" his eyes snapped open to focus on the two women sitting on front of him, puzzled looks plastered on their faces. "Okay, that's enough for today…" he gulped, the image of his mirage fresh in his mind. As the girls left the dojo, utterly confused, he continued his own session, desperate to rid himself of this overwhelming desire to be with Belle.

* * *

Belle hovered behind Hope after leaving the dojo. Curious, she peeked back inside.

Leonardo had gone right back into meditation, breathing slower and deeper than either her or Hope had done. Belle watched for a few seconds as though expecting something to happen. It was the strangest thing, but she could not shake the feeling that their sudden dismissal had something to do with her. Which was truly a shame. Belle had a lot of respect for Leonardo. He was helpful and protective, and had a lot of responsibility to be getting along with. And, she thought as she studied him sitting there, he was very well built. Not large and bulky like Raphael, nor sinewy and toned like Donatello. Leonardo was the in-between. Sculpted, with muscles designed for accuracy and precision.

Belle blinked as Leo's eyes snapped open.

A familiar scream echoed over every stone wall in the lair. There was a millisecond where the two of them looked at each other, perplexed and startled. Then Belle had to follow the blur that was Leonardo as he sprinted to the source of the noise. She did not run, but prepared herself for a little drama. She thought she already knew what this was about.

* * *

" _No_! That was my _entire_ life's work!" Hope bawled, collapsing to the ground at Donnie and Raph's feet. She sobbed inconsolably, tearing at her hair in pure rage.

Leo burst out of the dojo, eyes wild with concern, and swept her up into his arms. Hope beat her hands on his plastron, lashing out against his hold. Angry tears claimed her face, staining her skin a dark red.

"I'm going to kill him! _Kill him_!" She exclaimed, struggling in Leo's huge arms. He refused to let her go, desperate to console her, however he was oblivious to what had taken place.

"Let me go!" She screamed, but soon began to calm in his protective hold, her sobs subsiding. "How could… this… happen?" She stuttered between heaving lurches of her diaphragm.

" _How did this happen?!_ " She shrieked once again, her unconstrained question directed at Donatello.

* * *

Don was completely thrown. At her question, he had the urge to duck behind his larger brother, who was standing apathetically beside him, watching the events unfold. But he refrained. He didn't think she'd take it all that well if he tried to hide.

"Um… Looking at the place I think it was caused by some sort of mild explosion. Most likely it was some sort of hit and run situation, chucking a few grenades in the windows."

Hope sniffled and fat tears leaked from her eyes. Donnie felt a great pang of sympathy. "I'm… sorry, Hope. I can't imagine what it must feel like to lose what you worked so hard for… It's okay,"

He dropped down and offered her his hand to stand up. "You can use my lab until you get back on your feet."

* * *

She should have known that he was just being polite. She should have accepted his generous offer. She should have thanked him and left it at that. She should have known better.

However what she should do, and what she did, were not even remotely on the same level. There was no malice in his offer, no arrogance, but Hope was already about as tightly wound as she could be. And his words 'my lab' made something snap in her brain, causing her to unravel like a poorly knitted scarf.

"Oh yeah, _your_ lab! _Your lab_ that hasn't been blown up, that still has all its fancy equipment! You'd like that, huh? Keeping an eye on me, telling me when I'm doing something wrong? Well I'm not doing that. Stuff your lab." She slapped his hand away, and struggled to her feet. "This wasn't just some experiment for fun, Donatello, this was everything I've worked for… and… that… was my _home_ …"

She was completely distraught at the news, but even more so that her little living space had also been wiped out. Now she was forced to live down there, in the sewers, for who knew how long? All she had was the faded pair of overalls she wore, and her bright yellow hooded jumper.

Exhaling shakily, feeling all eyes on her, she shuffled over to the kitchen area, took up a seat and lay her head on the table. It was hard to be alone when there were so many around, in this alien place.

* * *

There was a moment of tension where everyone who was still left in the room, with the exception of Belle, who smartly averted her gaze to play the neutral party, watched as Donatello turned an unflattering shade of dark olive.

With an enormous huff and much foot-stomping, he turned on his heel and stormed off to his lab. There was no door to slam, but the way the thick curtains were pulled tight shut was just as much of a warning to stay away.

Belle felt her mind go numb. Oh, how she hated conflict. She could handle gunmen and black-suited crazy men with brutish lackeys, but she couldn't handle a little drama without feeling like a coat rack.

However, certain situations called for certain measures to be made. If she was to be a coat rack, then a coat rack she must be. Right now, Hope needed a rack to hang up, and end, her bad day.

Belle sighed grievously and cast reassuring glances at the three remaining turtles on her way to the kitchen.

The room was brightly lit, but with a sharp, unforgiving glow like a spotlight. And there was her friend, sitting at the table with her face hidden in her hands and bravely suppressing her sniffs. Belle placed a consoling hand on Hopes shoulder.

"You don't have to stay down here." She murmured. Hope looked up. "I have my own place. You can stay with me. It's not as good as getting your lab back, but I know that you need some time away from these guys… Just… promise me that you won't resent the turtles forever. Bishop is after your research. But he's after their blood… They're victims too."

* * *

"I know," Hope sighed, unfolding herself from her arms. "It's not… them… It's just… _him_ … There's something about him that just grates away at me. I can't place my finger on it. They did save our lives I suppose, I really should be more grateful." She paused, turning to face Belle. "I'm just stressed out," she offered as a lame excuse for her recent actions.

Mulling over Belle's offer for a moment, Hope nodded absentmindedly to her own inner musings. "I think I will stay here, though. Might take up Donnie on his offer and commandeer a corner in his lab… If he isn't too mad at me. I should… I should really apologise to him, huh?"

* * *

"Yes, that might be a good idea." Belle sat down and took a deep, relaxing breath. She could think of nothing else to say.

She and Hope sat in silence for a few minutes until Hope stood up abruptly, nodded to herself and stalked from the kitchen in the direction of the lab. Belle hummed in cogitation, knowing when she was no longer needed.

Donatello was working furiously on building a sizable upgrade to his supercomputer. It was rather large and clunky, but finding the components and constructing blueprints to a flash-drive downloadable version would take a lot more time. For now, he lost himself in the multi-coloured wires, forgetting to be mad or upset about anything.

* * *

Peeping through the curtains which served as a door to the lab, Hope spotted Donatello deep in concentration. She didn't want to startle him, so she loudly cleared her throat. He turned around quickly and when he saw her, wrinkled his nose as if he'd smelled something bad.

Hope decided to overlook this and stepped into the large room. It was much bigger than her own place, filled to the brim with all sorts of scientific equipment. To her, it was heaven.

"Hey…" she started, unsure of how to phrase her apology. "Uh… what are you working on…?"

* * *

He snorted and turned back to fiddling with the electronics.

"Computer upgrade." He mumbled with no hint of interest in her appearance.

In all honesty, it shocked him to see her there. He thought he might have had to be the apologist, not the other way around. Of course, the way things had been going between him and this woman were almost insufferable. So he might never have apologized anyway, if it suited him. Deep down, it was nice to see her trying to communicate, even if it was just to use his lab.

She delved deeper into the lab, eyeing the various experiments. In all honesty she wanted to have a good rake and poke at everything. However that was not her current objective.

He didn't seem the slightest bit interested in making small talk, so she opted to jump in at the deep end and get it over with.

"I'm sorry!" Hope blurted, the frowned. _What a terrible sounding phrase_ , she thought. "Let me rephrase that," she stepped over to him, leaning against his desk, so she was in his peripheral vision.

"I apologise for the way I acted towards you earlier. For the way I've been around you since the beginning…" he tilted his head and their eyes met. She felt her face grow hot as his eyes pierced her. "I'm not used to this…" she waved her arms around his body, indicating she meant him, "well, I'm used to being alone. And well, you. You're pretty smart."

 _Are you kidding me?_ Hope mentally scolded herself, _you normally have no trouble with words!_

"I'm… I'll… If the offer still stands… I'd… um… I'd love to make use of your lab. It's really… beautiful."

* * *

If only she hadn't complimented his lab, he thought, or he might have still stood a chance at cutting her off. Her words melted away his iciness, and he truly felt like he could find could find a lot of common ground with her if she felt so strongly about his extensive supply of equipment.

He heaved a great sigh and turned back to her. "…Apology accepted. Actually, I'm sorry too. I haven't been all that sensitive. I've always been used to being the smart one, too. I'm probably worse than you in that regard, since I've grown up with a family who praises me for it."

Hope flinched. He frowned slightly, but continued. "How about your family? They must be so proud of you. All the work you've done…"

* * *

Hope froze. Just when they seemed to have reached a common ground, he had to go and throw the mention of her family into the mix. It wasn't a subject that she felt strongly about, nor one she particular wanted to discuss.

She knew that if she stayed much longer, that she would end up snapping at him again, and now that they were on good terms, she made the decision to nip it in the bud.

"Yeah…" she answered, not elaborating any more than that. He must have sensed her sudden change because his expression transformed into that of unease. "I'm… I'm gonna go…" she mumbled and briskly departed the area, leaving Donatello somewhat confused.

The day sped by after that. Hope spent the majority of her time with Belle, discussing her lifestyle and dreams for the future. It became easy to ask questions and listen to her enthusiastic replies, while she, Hope, nodded along in agreement.

Truthfully, in the back of her mind, Hope was busy planning a revenge vendetta against Bishop for what he'd done to her life. It was proving more difficult than she'd anticipated, however, as she had no skills whatsoever to combat his evil deeds.

That's when she came to the conclusion that fighting with her mind just wasn't good enough.


	9. Chapter 9

The next day, Hope cornered Leonardo in the living area and set about presenting her proposal.

"I want to learn how to fight."

"You… what?"

"I want you to teach me how to fight. I did nothing when those goons trashed my lab. I could have done more."

"Well… Hope, I'm not sure about that. I-"

"Please, Leo. Just show me the basics. I'm begging you."

Leo could see the desperation in her eyes, and he sighed. Maybe it would be good to train her in their ways, even just to defend herself properly.

"Alright, just let me organise a few things first."

"Thank you."

* * *

Donnie clattered another dry dinner plate beside him and took a newly cleaned one from Belle. Anyone could tell he was in bad spirits.

"I'm sorry, say that again?"

"Hope wants to learn to fight! And Leonardo told me to teach her!"

"Huh. Hope wants to learn to fight…" Belle caught Don's pointed look and grinned sheepishly. "Right! And too bad for you, you know. Teaching, ugh! _So_ sorry for you."

"Nice save. Very smooth."

"Thank you." Belle tossed her head in a manner that gave the impression of a big-headed princess. She smiled. "So how are you gonna go about this?"

"I might teach her some basic hand-to-hand, but that isn't exactly my strongest defence. I'm better with my bo…" He sighed.

"Hmm…Maybe you could get to that later once she covers the basics." Belle finished cleaning the last plate and handed it to him while she began to wipe down the kitchen counters.

"I guess. Apparently she's pretty adamant. Leo says to start the training tomorrow! I'm just not sure I have the time to pull something together."

"Pull something to-" Belle stopped to cock her head to the side. "Pull something together, this is fighting, not school! All you have to do is give her a demonstration, isn't that how Splinter taught you?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right." He stacked the dishes in the cupboard. "I just don't want to give her a reason to get upset with me again."

"Then trust me." Belle stated. "Regular training and sparring is the right way to go."

* * *

"And I am officially broke!" Hope dumped the plastic bags on the counter on front of Mikey. "I spent all that I had on me on extra clothes, and now I have no job, no home… What a disaster."

Mikey raised an eye ridge at her. "You've got a home, dudette," he said simply, waving his arms around the sewer. "Don't sweat it, it's gonna be fine." He dragged one of the bags towards him, and began to peek inside. Hope slapped his hand away.

"Don't you dare! There are unmentionables in there!" Hope's face grew a dark scarlet colour as Mikey grinned devilishly at her. Quick as the ninja he was he snatched up the bag and began pulling items out of it.

"Ooh Hope, I didn't know you were the type!" He teased, holding out a pair of frilly black panties and waving them around. "Who are you trying to impress?"

"Mikey! What the heck?!" She lunged at him to retrieve the underwear, but he easily dodged out of her reach.

"I think I know who," he winked flapping the garments above her head.

"Stop it!" Jumping up as high as she could, her fingers brushed the material.

"Too slow!" He brought his free arm swiftly around her waist and pulled her in close to his plastron, a cheeky grin filling his entire face.

"Wh-what are you doing?!" Hope exclaimed, her cheek pressed uncomfortably against the hard surface.

"Just admit that you like him."

"Who?!"

"You know who."

"Mikey, stop it. This isn't cool." Hope mumbled seriously, desperate to get out of his vice-like grip.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. Here," he passed her the underwear which she snatched back, glaring at him. His child-like demeanour and extreme playfulness melted her a little and she sighed in defeat.

"I need to go and get changed for training with Leonardo, I'll see you later,"

Mikey bowed to her sarcastically giving her one last wink. She shook her head as she walked away, mentally preparing herself for whatever Leo had in store for her.

* * *

"I'm bailing."

"You're not bailing." Belle yanked at the equipment strapped to Don's back. It was the only part of him she could pull for any real effect. He may have been lanky, but she still wouldn't have been able to hold him back by pure strength.

"WATCH IT, WATCH MY STUFF!" He cried, leaning back to inspect any possible damage. Finding nothing broken he let out an odd, raspy, exasperated sound from his throat. "She's expecting Leo or Splinter or someone else, I just know it!"

He began pacing, around and around the circle of semi-darkness that the candlelight in the corners fell just short of. Watching him was rather dizzying. "Hope does not find me popular, she'd prefer anyone else but me to teach her, why does it have to be me?"

"Calm down, for-heavens-sake!" Belle flapped her hands at him and got him to stop pacing. "Hope will appreciate that you're an experienced fighter. She's proud, but she knows when she needs to respect something. You're the teacher, she's the student. She'll accept that."

"What if she demands someone else teaches her?" Don wrung his hands. His eyes kept darting to the door of the dojo.

"Then we'll need to persuade her to give it a chance." Belle calmly strolled around. "Think about it, there must be something you can teach her that the others can't! Hmm…" Her eyes went dreamy. She looked as though she might have been in a trance. Don gave this no alarm. Belle was a deep thinker. Perhaps not as smart as he was, but far more insightful. "Maybe it's because the bo staff is traditionally a long-range weapon. You're fighting style is naturally defensive, but never comes too close to the attacker like with sai or nun-chucks. Leo must have thought your style would meet Hope's needs best."

Don sighed. "Alright, alright. Maybe I can teach her some dodging for today, if she doesn't skip out on me."

"That's the spirit!" Belle smiled.

* * *

Hope stood on front of the cracked mirror in the bathroom area and admired her reflection. She usually didn't bother to make her appearance any better that it was. Applying makeup, fashioning outfits, styling her hair: these were trivial things that would only take away from her precious working time.

Now, however, after her little shopping spree, she'd decided that if she was going to train with Leo, that she may as well look good doing it. It wasn't like she'd ever worked out before, so was a little unsure of what was best to wear. She'd decided on lose sports trousers, which hung casually from her hips. In order to keep her body free of obstructions, she wore a tight fitting strapped top, which clung to her slender curves. Scraping her long hair into a tight pony tail, Hope took one last look and nodded with approval.

She made her way to the dojo and spotted Belle and Donatello in what seemed to be somewhat of a heated discussion. Holding back for a moment, she waited until Belle stepped back from him, looking rather pleased with herself. That was Hope's cue to enter.

"Hey guys, I'm supposed to be doing some training with Leo today. Have you seen him?" She asked breezily.

Belle shot Donnie a knowing look and quickly excused herself from the dojo. Hope eyed him up and down, uncertain of what to say. Their latest encounter hadn't exactly been pleasant.

"Um… So have you seen him?" She repeated uneasily. He offered up a sheepish grin in return and bit his lower lip. His actions slowly but surely made Hope grasp what the situation was. "You're… Oh… Okay…"

She placed her hands on her hips and eyed him again. "Oh alright then, how do you propose we proceed?"

* * *

"Alright, uh…" After thinking for a moment, Don quickly went to a crate against the far wall and pulled out a large training mat. "We used to use this when we were little and our skin wasn't yet bulletproof. This is just so you don't get scuffed on the floor," he explained to Hope as he rolled it out into the centre of the room. It was worn but springy when Hope stepped onto it.

"First rule of training." Don stated. "Always stretch. You'll never get the chance to do this if you're being attacked, obviously. But doing careful warm-ups and flexibility-enhancing exercises regularly are beneficial to your body's dexterity and muscular limitations."

He joined Hope on the mat and showed her a series of easy stretches. "It's always best to stretch each muscle individually for 10 to 20 seconds to begin with. Don't pull so hard, you want to ease the muscle into it, don't tear it." He had to help her figure out how to grab one arm with the other over her head to stretch her triceps. And then again showed her the correct way to stretch her calf muscles by propping each foot up against the wall. Hope said nothing, only listened and mimicked his movements.

"Okay…" Don said, feeling a little uneasy after the warm up. He wasn't used to Hope being this quiet. "Now we'll work on the basic punch. Don't give me that look! Punching isn't just throwing your fist at a guy, it involves projecting your… Oh, let me show you…"

He moved to Hopes side and told her to put her arm out in front of her. He then corrected her stance. "Now, when you punch, you want to start with your hip. You don't need to pull your arm back the whole way, it isn't about arm strength. Look," He punched the air in front of him. He then did it again, more slowly. This time, Hope could see every one of his muscles, from his hip right up his side and across his arm, pulse like fleshy pistons. Every time he punched, his hip jerked forward, followed by another powerful jerk from his shoulder, and then his elbow. Hope watched as Don continued to demonstrate every punch.

"You see?" Don punched again, this time very slowly so that she could watch the process carefully. "You punch not only with the arm, but the whole half of your body. It's a whiplash effect, designed to double the force of the blow. Triple it, even."

* * *

Hope had been biting her tongue the entire session. It wasn't that she didn't admire his fighting skills, more that he was so much more intelligent that she had ever let herself believe. She watched him move so elegantly, it was almost beautiful. The thought had never occurred to her before that this sort of physical activity could be an art form, and Donatello certainly had that down to a T.

She mirrored his movements to the best of her ability, but every time he touched her bare skin it felt like electricity was passing between them. She opted to keep her mouth shut and concentrate on the task at hand.

Throwing a few punches as he watched, she saw the look of unease in his eyes. He took a hold of her arm and positioned it correctly, riling her up.

"I can't do this!" She snapped suddenly, letting her arms fall to her sides. "I don't know why I even asked for this, it's pointless. I'm not a fighter."

* * *

"What?" Don backpedalled a bit. He had thought the session was going good enough, and he couldn't understand why she suddenly wanted to stop. "You're doing so well!"

Hope gave him a very sarcastic look that said quite clearly that she thought he was lying.

He fumbled with his words a bit. He had gotten used to being the instructor. Heck, all his life all he was ever good for other than being another number in the team was providing information. He wasn't so good at giving encouragement.

"L-look…" He stuttered, trying to formulate the words he needed to explain. "You are, right… i-in some regard. By that I mean, you… you were right when you said you aren't a fighter. But," He stepped forward and stooped to her level to show his sincerity. "But, that just implies that you're, uh… You're not a fighter _yet_. You see? Because… well, because you still have a lot to learn. But, you can still get there! If you stick to it…You know?"

* * *

As frustrated as Hope was with herself for not picking up his teachings as quickly as she would have liked, she felt herself smirk at his attempt at comfort. She sucked in her lower lip to avoid laughing in his face and collected herself.

"Alright." She wanted to prove to him that she could do anything that he could, thus confirming that we was just as gifted as he.

They worked all through the morning, Hope finally relaxing around him and soaking up the lessons like a sponge. Once the punches had been perfected, they moved swiftly on to kicks. Donnie demonstrated how to get the best power out of it.

They got so into it that they both completely overlooked breaking for lunch, and when Hope confidently asked if he could teach her how to do a take down, he beamed with pride and obliged.

He first demonstrated how to shift the opponent's centre of gravity and sweep her leg around the ankle to set them off balance. The first couple of times, he completed the move on her, gently catching her with one arm before she crashed to the ground.

Next, it was her turn and she nervously placed her hand on his broad shoulder. Again, the sparks between them ignited like a wild forest fire and she paused briefly to look into his bespectacled eyes. The lenses magnified them, extenuating the swirls of green and browns mixed there. She felt her breath catch in her throat as he caught her gaze and gave her a reassuring smile.

"You can do it," he grinned, falsely assuming that her blatant trepidation was connected to the move she was about to execute.

She nodded apprehensively and took a hold of his shell with her other hand. Using her weight she pushed his top half back, and utilizing the momentum, she hooked her foot around his ankle and pushed hard.

Donnie toppled backwards, landing hard on his shell, however in the heat of the moment, Hope had forgotten to let go and she came tumbling unceremoniously down on top of him.

* * *

Both of them froze. Don was shocked to find Hope's face as close to his than he had never imagined it could be. He could feel her hot breath on his mouth. It came in short little pants and he knew it was because she was just as confounded as he was.

"…"

"…"

"So, uh…" Don heavily cleared his throat as he watched Hope's face steadily turning beet-red. "Good job. You might want to let go, next time…"

Hope jerked her head in a sharp nod. She looked like she'd rather have the old training mat leap into animation and smother her to death than be where she was at that moment.

"…Hope, you…" She cast her bright, baby blue gaze into his. Against the flush of her skin, they looked bigger and bluer than ever. "You… can get up, if you want…"

She immediately scrambled to her feet. Don hoisted himself up as well and was suddenly startled by how far away she seemed to be from his height.

There was another minute's awkward silence that he spent bending over to roll up the training mat. When he finished he turned back to her. Hope's face was no longer as red, but still a very noticeable pink.

"Good job today." He said in a monotone. "If you could meet me back here on Wednesday we can practice again what you learnt today and then progress onto ducks and rolls."

He started walking towards the exit. "Make sure to do the stretches I taught you before you go to bed every night before then, and after you get up in the mornings. Just 2 minutes per stretch should keep you in shape."

And then he was out through the door, and the curtain was swinging in his wake.

* * *

Hope prayed with all the might that Belle had opted to hang around the lair for a while. All she needed right now was to retell the most recent events and get another female's opinion on the matter.

Or 'gossip' as some might call it.

She hadn't even bothered to change out of her sweaty clothes before scouring the lair in search for her friend.

Eventually she spotted her, curled up in a corner with a book poised in front of her face.

Hope immediately darted to her side and without exchanging pleasantries, began to playback the events that had hadn't only moments ago.

* * *

Belle flinched as her quiet reading was interrupted by an onslaught of rapid speech. At the urgency in her friend's voice, she automatically snapped to full attention. Belle didn't think Hope even knew how flustered she appeared.

Her confusion broke away as understanding dawned in her mind. She'd smirk, but showing support was the most pressing matter.

So she simply nodded along and watched as Hope recounted the embarrassment she had had to endure when alone with Donatello. After finalising her speech she paused to take a deep breath. Belle took the opportunity to answer the questions she already knew would follow.

"Well, it was an accident." She said, fondling the edges of her book. "I don't think you have anything to worry about. It sounds like there was a bit of chemistry there, but Donatello is smart and cautious enough to know that it would be distasteful and incredibly presumptuous to draw anything more from it other than that. And… in regards to your 'theory' about the guys…"

Belle dropped her voice to a low mutter. "Whether or not they be more 'possessive' than regular guys, Donnie is a man of science and prestige. He wouldn't allow himself to stoop to that animalistic level. Out of all of them, he is the least likely to do so."

* * *

"What do you reckon they're talking about?" Leo asked his brother as they sat watching the makeshift television.

"What? I dunno, why don't you ask them?" Mikey answered spying the two girls sat next to each other speaking in hushed tones.

"No! I'm not just going to march over there and demand to know what they're discussing," Leo replied in a shocked tone, retreating into the couch.

"Dude, you have got it so bad!"

"What on earth are you talking about, Mikey?"

"Brah, seriously, you're not even hiding it."

"I don't-"

Mikey began laughing hysterically at his brother, pointing at the girls. "Belle! Dude, it so obvious you have a thing for her!"

"Don't be ridiculous, Mikey. She's a human," he offered as an excuse, but Mikey was having none of it.

"Just ask her out, man."

"What?! No!"

"Come on!"

"No!" Leo sighed heavily, contemplating how exactly that conversation would go. "No…" He rose from the sofa abruptly and announced his departure. "I'm going to see how Donnie got on with Hope's training."

* * *

"I didn't know what to do, I panicked!" Donatello paced around his lab, wringing his hands. "What would you have done if some girl you barely knew fell on top of you!"

"I don' think dat's the problem, here." Raph took a big swig of his soda. He was leaning his shell against his brother's extra-reinforced lab table and listening to him vent like a short-tempered and thoroughly unconcerned therapist. "You say 'barely knew' like she's some stranger who don' mean much to ya. But that ain't true, ain't it?"

He gave Don a huge, devilish smile. "She does mean somethin' to ya. She means a lot, right?"

"Ridiculous notion…" Don muttered to himself. He paced faster. "Don't know where the idea…"

Raph sighed and took another huge mouthful of soda. Donatello did not stop pacing when the curtains swung open and Leonardo strode in.

* * *

"Don, I was just coming to-" Leo stopped mid-sentence when he clocked Raph casually leaning against the desk. "Sorry, am I interrupting something?" He asked, pressing his lips into a thin line.

Raphael merely grunted and exited the lab, throwing Donatello a knowing smirk.

"What was that all about?" He asked. Noticing Donnie's anxious expression and introverted demeanour he became wary and eased himself over to his brother.

"I was coming to ask how training went with Hope, but I feel like you've already answered that question."

Donatello slowly explained the events of the session and Leo listened intently. His initial assumption was that Hope had somehow managed to piss him off, yet again and that they'd gotten into some sort of heated discussion. However from his brother's rehash of the story, it seemed that he wasn't the only one supressing confusing feelings.

"I just saw her and Belle whispering to each other, you know, like woman do… I think she'd just retold the whole story too, bro." He sighed heavily and placed his hand on Donnie's shoulder. "I'm sure it'll all blow over soon," he offered as a weak attempt at comfort.

* * *

"Hm. You know, I think Donnie is telling his brothers what happened as well." Belle said as she observed Leonardo walking into the bespectacled turtle's lab, and Raphael lumbering out soon afterwards. "Don't ask me why, but I have a strong feeling."

"Strong feelin' o' what?"

Raphael, exhibiting a faithful ninja demeanour for the first time since she had known him, had snuck around the edge of the room unnoticed despite his size. Now, he leaned over the back of Belles chair and gave her a shadowy look. Belle felt her insides twinge. She liked Raph enough as a friend, but he always managed to make her feel nervous.

At his question, her expression remained stony, however. And she replied with a query of her own. "What were you and Donnie talking about?"

"Ah…" Raph didn't want to betray his brothers secrecy. Sheesh, the guy needed some kind of security in his vulnerable state. "…stuff."

* * *

Hope's curiosity was piqued at Raph's sudden awkwardness. There was something that he was hiding, but what could it possibly be?

Her earlier theory that the turtles' animal side would eventually take over was dissipating, but she still had an uneasy feeling around Raphael. His brutish demeanour screamed out alpha male, but from her observations, Leo had already filled that role. The way Raph hungrily eyed Belle made her wonder if he had any ulterior motive for the girl.

Nevertheless, the mystery surrounding the conversation between Leo and Donnie was gnawing away at her, and she dared to peek around the curtain and eavesdrop while Belle and Raph were distracted.

She clocked Leo, placing a tepid hand on his brothers shoulder, who looked a little uncomfortable. Nothing was being said, so she couldn't quite work out what they had been talking about.

That's when her attention turned to the large number of televisions positioned around a cluttered desk. One of the channels was mutely throwing out the latest news story, and she recognised the grainy picture immediately. Bishop.

Without warning, Hope barged into the lab, met by the shocked, confused faces of Leo and Donnie. The former opened his mouth to protest her interruption, but she waved her hand dramatically, glaring at the screen.

The news report was announcing that Bishop, her rival in the field of genetics, was holding a press conference for a big reveal in the advancement of medicines to combat hereditary diseases.

"Hope? What-"

"Shh!"

Once the section was over, she turned to the turtles. "He's stolen my research. Everything I've worked for. He's stolen it, and he's holding a conference next week to announce the findings. He's going to pass my work at his own… I have to be there."


	10. Chapter 10

" _Be there_?" Belle's head was visible through the large gap in the curtains. Her eyes were hard as she stared at Hope and the wall of screens behind her. "Storm there! Sit right there in the front row so he can look you in the eyes while he practically steals your very identity!"

The curtains timidly kissed the skin of her shoulders as she swept inside and joined Hope in the semi-circle of turtles inside the lab. Raphael, no longer attempting to move unseen, also came in with a look of grim determination on his face.

"Bishop." He spat. "Why in the hell does he wanna pass off Blondie's research as 'is own?!"

"For money." Belles voice was spiteful. The other turtles in the room blinked in surprise at this new change of tone that they had never heard before. "Money and _influence_. That tremendous… that ignorant, slimy, corrupting _serpent_! Thinks he can slap pretty diagrams and charts on a PowerPoint and dazzle all those politicians into investing in his projects. Sad thing is…" She grit her teeth. "He's completely right."

* * *

Leo was mesmerised by Belle's sudden change in tone. Even though he could tell that she was a very passionate girl, the extreme ardour with which she spoke filled him with a sense of pride. She was definitely someone that he wanted to keep in his life.

He looked to Hope, who was writhing in anger at the situation. He couldn't help but feel sorry for her; after all, this was her life's work that was being presented as someone else's.

"You're coming with me, right?" Hope asked Belle, her eyes glistening with pure rage. "I need some moral support." Leo noticed that she hadn't even bothered to ask for his or his brothers' help, but he understood why. The fact that they couldn't be seen by the public notwithstanding, he was sure every one of them would like to tear Bishop apart.

Belle flashed a bright smile, which positively shone with intrigue. Leo couldn't help but grin back. When she caught his eye he coughed and turned his attention back to Hope. "So, you're going?" He asked tentatively.

"Damn right, I'm going! I'm not going to let that ignoramus change history with _my_ findings." With that she stormed out of the lab, cursing under her breath.

* * *

Belle rifled through her wardrobe. Hope had said events like this were very formal. How formal, Belle wondered? Enough for a long, elegant dress? Or could she get off with a button-up top and dress pants?

"What do you think I should wear?"

Sighing, she decided on a teal, crisp-cut shirt and dug out her black pants. Part of gate-crashing a conference was not drawing attention to yourself. She wouldn't get away with not wearing make-up, but that was fine with her. Hope, however, had taken a lot of convincing to borrow one of her lipsticks and mascara. Hope's skin wasn't as fair as Belles, but was far clearer and less blemished. So she didn't need foundation. Belle only wished she wasn't so susceptible to scarring, or she wouldn't still have ancient spots from her acne-addled adolescence.

"Never mind, I have something." She called out. She had been speaking to the door to her bedroom bathroom for something of 15 minutes. Hope was inside, writing a Shakespearean poem on the mirror… Or something else along those lines. It could not be possible to take that long putting on simple lipstick and mascara.

"Hope?" Belle knocked on the door. "Are you okay…? Are you fixing your hair?"

* * *

"Ugh!" Hope exclaimed as she coated her under eyes with black liquid for what felt like the hundredth time. She would have to admit defeat. "No. I need help," she mumbled through the door, pulling it towards her to reveal Belle's desperate attempt at concealing her laughter.

"It's not funny!" Hope whined, "I never wear this stuff, I don't even know where to begin!"

She'd opted to arrive early at Belle's apartment for a long needed shower. After two weeks of sharing the sewer with the turtles, with primitive at best showering facilities, Hope really wanted to get the stink out of her hair and look her best for the conference.

As one of the few scientists involved in mutagen studies, she'd been able to wangle herself and Belle passes for the evening. Bishop had gone all out; after the initial press conference there was to be a reception and bar. This is where she would confront him, if possible. Nerves were building up within her, but she swatted them away.

During her shopping trip, she'd managed to pick up an acceptable suit for the evening: black with white pinstripes, a crisp white shirt peeking through the buttoned up jacket.

She held the circular tube out to Belle and grimaced. "Stop sniggering, just put the stuff on me and let's be done with it!" She snapped, clearly aggravated.

* * *

"I've never had a problem with this kind of thing." Belle said conversationally as she accepted the cosmetic from Hope and handed her a wipe to clean her eyes. "But I guess that's because I'm a visual learner. It's just like painting, really."

Hope only grunted and threw aside the blackened wipe to join an array of others beside the sink.

Belle smiled sympathetically. "I can't imagine staring at screens of diagrams or managing test tubes all day. I'd say 'I don't know how you do it', but I know it's because your brain is wired for that kind of thing… Close your eyes, I'm about to put on your eyeliner."

There came a ringing from Hope's pocket. Hope dug out her phone and put it on speaker so that Belle could continue.

* * *

"We don't have time for this, Leo," Hope snapped before he could even utter a word. His number had been popping up on her phone all day, and she'd been rejecting his calls.

"Wait… Hope! Godammit! She hung up on me again!" Leo cursed, turning his attention to Mikey, who smirked.

"They're obviously busy, dude. You know what women are like. They gotta get themselves all done up for this, you know?"

But Leo didn't know. He couldn't understand why Belle of all people would need to do anything to enhance her appearance. To him she was prefect.

"Yeah alright, but I still need to know if they want me to give them a ride to the conference," Leo argued.

"Why dude? They're grown women. They'll get the subway, or a taxi. It's cool."

Leo grimaced. Even though he knew that both women were perfectly capable of getting there on their own, he still had a deep sense of dread throbbing within him. Something told him that he needed to be around. Instead of arguing with his carefree brother any further, he formulated a plan to keep a safe distance from them, but also keep an eye on them the whole evening.

* * *

Donnie spent the evening setting up his comm-system while eating his dinner with one hand: one of the luxuries he hadn't been privileged with while in Bishop's captivity. Donatello had a personal vendetta against the dark-haired man. And stealing Hope's hard work was the tip of the ice-burg for him.

No fellow scientist deserved to have their life's work stolen from them. Don would make sure that Hope's pride was restored by the end of the night.

He twiddled his earpiece for the hundredth time while testing and re-testing the signal to the pieces he had given the girls before they left. And meanwhile, Raphael watched suspiciously as Leo hovered near the lairs exit. Fearless had been twitchy ever since that dark-blonde broad showed up. With good reason, too. Raph admitted to himself that he'd be nervous too if he had himself to outdo.

Raph knew in his gut that his older brother was threatened by him. For once in his life, Leonardo was avoiding him, keeping his distance. Too afraid of looking less than worth-while to stand in his way. And oh, did that knowledge feel good to the hot-headed turtle. And was he ever determined to make the most of it.

So while he kept close watch of his brother in his peripheral vision, he knew, at the the exact moment it occurred, when Leo finally snooped close enough to Donnie's desk drawers to slide one open and slip out one of his cell-phone tracking devices without anyone else noticing. And as the oh-so saint-like Leader slunk out the exit at last, Raph grinned like a devil and stalked after him. He wouldn't let Leo gain the upper hand. Not when the game was his for the taking.

* * *

They hadn't quite acquired front row seats as Belle had so eloquently described in her earlier speech. However the section in which they sat gave them both a perfect view of the stage. Hope was nervous about so many things: how would Bishop react when she confronted him? What if she was wrong and it wasn't her research that he was presenting? What if this was some sort of trap to get rid of her?

There was a hustle and bustle air in the large hall which housed the press conference, as people all took their seats. It was filling up quickly, with various news crews testing their equipment. Hope looked to the front section on the stage and saw an array of microphones and a large, mysterious clocked object. Anticipation began to pool in her gullet. She glanced fleetingly at Belle, who seemed to be at the opposite end of the spectrum from her, drinking in the atmosphere around them.

"Enjoying yourself?" Hope almost chuckled, infected by Belle's enthusiasm. That was one thing she could always count on her friend for: lifting her spirits and seeing the positive in almost any situation. She admired that about her.

* * *

"This is so _fascinating_." Belle quietly exclaimed. She shook her head at the crowd of people around them. "I don't think I've ever encountered so many close-minded and conceited people in one room before. Look there. That woman should learn to keep her hands away from her rack in public. What is she, a newswoman? Yeah, she is. There's the cameraman…"

 _"_ _Kssh - Hello? Who's touching whose rack?"_

"Donnie." Belle mouthed to Hope, and indicated for her to switch on her earpiece.

* * *

At first, Hope had blindly refused to wear any sort of Donatello's tech on her person. It seemed much too far-fetched and over the top, however after a long, and somewhat irritating, pep talk from her would-be rival, she had given in and inserted the device in her ear well. She opted to keep the thing turned off, but at the gesture from Belle, she clicked the thing on and was met with a fizzling static noise.

"Donnie," she whispered through gritted teeth, "I thought we'd agreed that we only use this in _emergencies_." Before he had a chance to answer her, or more likely argue back, Hope pushed the button in her ear and shot Belle a knowing look.

"Turn that thing off, for goodness sake. Let's just enjoy the show. Nothing is going to happen, okay?"

* * *

 _"_ _No, wait, Hope! Ugh…"_

Belle could hear the tech turtle's frustration at Hope in his voice and sense it in the air across the miles difference between them. She wanted to be the peacemaker, but where she was wasn't exactly a place for personal engagements at the moment.

After a seconds silence, Don spoke again. _"Belle, listen, it actually is an emergency. Leo and Raph have gone missing, and I think they might try to keep a watch on the conference."_

Belle gave a quiet gasp. She could have expected reckless behaviour like this from Raphael, but from Leo? Had the two finally gotten over their spat of sorts? Or was it because of their rivalry that they had both disappeared?

 _"_ _Just please tell Miss Sensitive to press the button on the beeper I gave her if the mission fails. And try and keep a look out for the others, okay?"_

"Got it." Belle whispered, not wanting to give away Don's interference. He didn't reply.

"The alpha's are having a battle of dominance on the rooftops or something." Belle told Hope, mocking a joking manner for the surrounding crowd. "Because… ah… they've apparently run out on the 'base of operations'…" She added in a murmur.

* * *

There was no time to dwell on Belle's findings because the lights suddenly dimmed, and a small, tubby man was introducing the man of the evening to the stage. Dozens of bright flashes from the press cameras shone around the darkened room as a familiar figure stepped onto the stage. He placed himself behind the podium and held up his hands.

"Welcome, welcome! I am Doctor Bishop and today I want to show you how I am going to change the world!" he bellowed followed by a cheer from the crowd.

Hope felt her insides tightening. What was he about to reveal?

"With my extensive research with the recently discovered substance, mutagen, hereditary diseases such as diabetes, Huntington's and even something as simple as baldness will be a thing of the past!"

"Oh my god," Hope whispered to Belle. "That's it. That's my research. He obviously got some of Donatello's blood while he had him captive. That was the missing piece. I can't believe this."

Bishop unveiled the mysterious cloaked object, which was a huge vat of pure mutagen. He paused as the reporters began eagerly snapping away at the spectacle.

"Human testing will commence in the next few months, and after that, worldwide inoculation," Bishop ended proudly. "Now we shall go on to the questions, and after that, there will be drinks in the foyer for my special guests."

Hope hung her head. This couldn't be happening. Everything she'd been working for, her entire career was being shameless stolen before her very eyes. Something had to be done.

"I'm going to confront him. I want to expose every thieving bone in his body," she promised.

* * *

"Sounds like you know what to do." Belle replied. They could talk semi-freely now that their voices were masked by the babble of scientists and press shouting out questions to Bishop.

The dark-suited man answered each query briefly and with no elaboration. "For now, I think we should act inconspicuous. Running off after him will look suspicious if we don't play it off just right. So I know you're pretty upset, but don't let it show, okay?

"And…" she added, looking towards the sides of the room. "Try to avoid bumping into our old friends…"

Stationed at every exit was one of the burly men who had destroyed Hope's lab. Belle knew that she was now at risk of being compromised. Bishop had never managed to get a look at her in his lab, but his lackeys had.

* * *

As always, Hope tried desperately to think of a nice logical solution to the problem at hand. No matter how much she racked her brain, she just couldn't come up with a plan. The fact that Bishop had stolen all her research and now was displaying it like a proud peacock, was irking her in ways she didn't think possible. But the worse part was that she felt genuinely enraged at him for hurting Donatello.

As soon as that thought popped into her head, she mulled it over and frowned. She would have done the same thing in Bishop's position, wouldn't she? She didn't really care that much for a mutant, did she? Hope bit her lip as reality began to dawn on her. She did care. Though she would never admit it.

All logic was thrown out the window and once the eloquent party of drinking and small talk began in the foyer, she excused herself from Belle, who was perched at the bar sipping on a soft drink, and hurried to the bathroom to compose herself. She needed to be presentable when she finally confronted her arch nemesis, in both her demeanour and mind.

* * *

As Belle took the last tiny sip of her drink there was a short buzz in her ear to signal that Donnie had somehow switched on her earpiece. Him and his hacking…

 _"_ _Krsssh - Belle? You haven't given us an update in a while. What's happening over there? Any sign of Raph or Leo?"_

If only there weren't so many people around… Belle thought. Instead of replying, she cleared her throat meaningfully.

 _"_ _Belle? Oh… Are you in a crowded place right now? Can you try and find a spot where you can talk?"_

"Mhm." Belle hummed in response. As she twisted to get off her seat, however, she was met with an achingly familiar black-tie suit. She looked up into the face of Bishop, whose void-black eyes glinted in a superior way.

* * *

"Good evening, my dear," Bishop greeted with a polite smile. "I'm so glad you and Miss Brevin could make it tonight. I trust you're enjoying the events of the evening?" His voice rang out in an ominous tone, one that could send chills down anyone's spine. Belle looked no different.

"From the way you've been chattering to yourself for the past few minutes, I assume there is a third party to this." The smartly dressed scientist gestured vaguely to her ear and in one swift movement whipped the earpiece from her ear canal and crushed it in his large hand. "Now," he waved his hand in a beckoning manner, and one of his burly lackeys ventured over. "Hans, is this the girl in question?"

"That she is, sir. That's the other girl that were there at Brevin's lab the night be raided it. She's got quite a tongue on her, mind," the man called Hans confirmed.

"I see. Hans, please escort, Miss… Gregors… out of here," Bishop eyed Belle as if she were some sort of vermin. "I will deal with Miss Brevin. I believe there may be some sort of plan in motion to… ahem… 'expose' me." He smirked wickedly as Hans inconspicuously flipped open a pocket knife and pressed it into the small of Belle's back.

"Come on," he grunted, manoeuvring her away from the bar and out of the foyer.

Bishop smoothly ordered a drink at the bar and swirled the ice around in the bourbon, eyes poised on the ladies bathroom, waiting for his rival to exit.

* * *

As Belle was prodded down the corridor away from the gathering, she tried to catch the eye of every face that turned her direction. A few people did seem to notice that something was amiss with her being escorted, and that seemed good enough to rouse some suspicion if she were to mysteriously disappear. Or if Hans the Sasquatch staged her death or something.

For the exiting corridor, there was a fair amount of people around. Belle smirked mischievously as an idea popped into her head.

"Hey, Mr Hans." Belle's voice was as innocent as she could muster. "You seem very well connected. Do you get paid much as a… er… 'Guard…'?"

"Never you mind." Hans grunted.

"Okay. I was just wondering. You have a very nice physique, by the way. It must be nice having a job that incorporates 'physical' fieldwork on a regular basis."

"Shut up."

"Okay. Why?"

"Shut up!"

"Yeah, but why?"

"Cause Bishop won't want me talkin' to his prisoner!"

Belle grinned triumphantly as a small gaggle of fussy reporters huddled around the ladies bathroom as she passed heard what he said. They immediately put their heads together excitedly, like bloodhounds on a scent, after they were out of his line of sight. She continued grinning until Hans lead her out the front of the building and away from the light spilling onto the pavement. He then grabbed her by the arm, put his knife to her throat, and forced her towards a sleek, black car parked in the left alleyway.

* * *

He had a perfect view of the whole charade that had been presented in the hall. Tracking the girls to this place hadn't been hard at all, and he'd breathed a sigh of relief when the conference ended, and there was no sign of negative activity.

Although he could not see into the foyer where the after party was located, Leo still stayed perched silently on the roof top. Was he being overly irresponsible here? Had his absence alerted the others at all? He ran his large hand over the dome of his head, and smoothed down his mask tails, which were blowing gently in the evening breeze.

Leo's thoughts fell once again onto Belle. She was far too smart, far too pretty to ever be interested in him in that way. Surely? He heaved another sigh and shook his head to rid himself of the recurring feelings. His eyes darted towards a sound down below. One of the back exits door had been flung open and a huge, ugly man exited holding a girl. Leo's eyes widened. Not just any girl.

"Belle," he whispered under his breath. Anger began to rise rapidly within him, as it began to dawn on him that the scene he was witnessing was, in fact, a kidnap. A low growl formed in his throat, and he briskly descended the building to rescue the woman he was falling in love with.

* * *

It had been inconceivably difficult on Raphael's patience to sit around watching his brother's shell for all of an hour. It was a mark of his dogged determination to outdo his fearless leader to have sat in complete ninja silence for what was probably the longest he had done in his life. He tried not to address the fact that Leo was in a very confused state of mind at the time, and that was mostly to blame for not being discovered.

Just when he thought he could call it a night, because it didn't look like anything at all interesting was going to happen, it did.

Following an uncoordinated sound of scuffling down below, Raph witnessed his brothers eyes turn dark from feet away, glaring down at two black figures in the alley below.

A short, unforeseen burst of cunning gave Raph the insight to do what he did next. In the millisecond that Leo's muscles coiled to leap, eyes trained on Belles kidnapper, Raph slipped in.

Out of Leo's line of sight, he flipped off the building and allowed his enormous mass to become dead weight. As Leo landed swiftly behind the kidnapper and gave him a punch that would of cracked his own skull, Raph positioned himself mid-air and landed with an almighty crash right on top of the shiny black car. It crunched and flattened as though a meteor had hit it…  
…Right in front of Belle. So when her arms had been released, she did not look behind her, at Leo. She looked at Raph. And Raph looked at his brother. And he looked murderous.

* * *

Hope had exited the toilets feeling more confident about what she was going to say to Bishop. Now all she needed to do was find him. As she stepped out of the vestibule her eyes scanned the bar for Belle, but widened when she saw that her friend's seat at the bar had been replaced by the very man she intended to expose.

Her heart began hammering in her chest. Where was Belle? Had she left? Had Bishop done something to her? It wasn't like Belle to do something irrational like this, and Hope felt herself begin to panic. Bishop's eyes were trained directly on her, as if he'd been waiting for her.

She had to alert someone. Her stubborn attitude towards Donatello was pushing its boundaries as she realised that he was the only one she could turn to. Surely he wouldn't throw this back in her face?

Bishop had relieved himself of the bar stool and was aiming directly for her at an alarming pace. It was now or never. She briskly pressed her finger to the ear piece.

"Donnie! Help! I think Belle's been ki-" before she could finish her sentence, a large hand had grasped firmly around her wrist.

"I don't think so, Miss Brevin. There are some things we need to discuss." As he had done with Belle, he whipped the ear piece straight from her head and rendered it inert between two fingers. "Please, come this way," he beckoned, tightening his grip on her wrist.

She didn't want to cause a scene, although in hindsight that might have been the better option. Hope just prayed that Donnie had heard her cry for help. Before it was too late.

* * *

"Hurry up!"

"Donatello, my son, you must not be irrational!"

Donnie gave a high pitched, slightly hysterical laugh as he sarcastically replied, "Oh, I'm not supposed to be irrational? NOW I understand!" He haphazardly swept an entire side-table of contents including gadgets and throwing stars into his duffel. "Mr's 'All-Powerful-Leader-Whose-Own-Rules-Don't-Apply-To-Him 'and 'Grouchy-Teenage-Hulk-With-Inferiority-Complex' are the only ones who are allowed to be irrational!? THANK you for clearing that up!"

Mikey trailed along behind his brother, helpfully handing him random objects from every corner of the lair. So flustered was the bespectacled turtle that he did not notice his own hands stuffing a pair of rubber gloves and an action figure into his bag by Michelangelo's doing.

Splinter heaved an enormous sigh. Everything that could have gone wrong with the mission had gone even worse. He only hoped that wherever Leonardo and Raphael were, they were focused on rescuing both girls from the clutches of that evil man.

 _At least_ , The wizened rat thought, as he watched Donatello sprint out of the lab in a flush of anxiety, Mikey giving his dad a swift wink over his shoulder, _One of the girls will most definitely be rescued, without a single doubt._

"Good luck, Donatello."

* * *

 _Had Raphael been there the whole time_ , Leo wondered. What was he even playing at? Leo was the one to make the decision, albeit irrational, to scope out the place for any potential threats. So why was his hot-headed brother now standing before Belle with a smug look planted upon his face? Had he really stalked Leo all the way downtown just to steal his moment of glory?

The honour-bound brother glared relentlessly at Raph, furious with him. Now Belle would think he was her rescuer, and where did that leave him? A pathetic sidekick? He could only see the back of Belle's head as she fell into Raphael's arms, clearly shell-shocked. The blood in his veins heated to boiling point, and he growled in frustration.

Then, without warning, he felt a surge of concern for his lady friend, and he dashed towards the pair. "Belle, are you okay? Did he hurt you?" he asked urgently. When she shook her head numbly against Raph's plastron, Leo breathed a sigh of relief. At least she was safe. Now he could deal with his idiot sibling.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" he chastised, blue eyes piercing into Raph's soul. "You could have jeopardised this entire mission!"

Raphael merely grunted, not even gracing him with a response. This only irked Leo further. "I am sick of your ridiculous games, Raphael. You have no regard for anyone but yourself. But we can address your rash actions later. We need to get out of here. Belle? Where is Hope?"

* * *

"In…inside…" It struck Belle, over the cacophony her pulse was making in her ears, that Bishop would be looking for Hope now that he had her out of the picture.

She felt her faint spell subside and she silently cursed her blood pressure for being at fault. She could think more clearly, and shouldered her way out of Raphael's grip to look at Leo.

"Hope went to the bathroom. Bishop will be waiting for her! He found me, he'll find her without a doubt!"

The two brothers exchanged a look. As much as they were rivals, family came first. Belle understood their implication. They couldn't rescue Hope from inside without Don's help to kill the lights or trigger an alarm. Without their stealth, they couldn't do anything to help. They would have to wait for Bishop or his minions to come out with Hope before they could free her.

Feeling disheartened but determined, Belle sat herself on the wreckage of the vehicle, despondent to Leonardo's attempts to usher her away from the area. Bishop would have found Hope by now, and she wanted to be right there in case she was needed. And even if she wasn't.

* * *

Meanwhile, Michelangelo tried not to slam into the van doors as Don raced to the building where he tracked Hopes last message to. His mind was a dull buzz, and he couldn't think past the thought of something bad happening to Hope. He wouldn't know what to think if Bishop held Hope in captivity, or hurt her, as had been done to himself not two months ago. The only thing he knew for sure was that if he arrived to find Hope injured, or worse, he would inflict much, much more damage to that dark-suited bastard than a simple kick to the face…

* * *

If only she'd paid more attention at school. If only her mind hadn't been fully occupied with becoming a scientist and trying to change the world. Then maybe, just maybe, she might have been able to determine the route in which this van was taking her. She might be able to work out where she was heading. She'd been relieved of one of her senses with a heavy cloth blindfold, however her other senses weren't much help either. A loud radio was being played with bouncy country music, which Hope figured was the deter her from listening to her surroundings.

Her hands were bound behind her back, her legs locked together with duct tape around her ankles. There was no way she was getting out of this. Not even with the small amount of training that Donnie had given her. How was he ever going to find her now? Even if he managed to track her to the conference, he'd never be able to work out what had happened next. She just prayed that he got to Belle in time.

The van broke suddenly, sending Hope flying across the back of the van and slamming hard into the driver's seat. She let out a whelp of pain and was immediately struck across the face by an unknown assailant. A trickle of blood worked its way down her cheek and into her mouth. She licked the salty substance and spat it out in disgust.

Large, strong arms lifted her and she was carried across a shoulder out of the van. She didn't bother to struggle, as she knew it could just make things worse for herself. She couldn't work out why Bishop hadn't just killed her when he'd cornered her in the foyer. But, she supposed, this way he's got a better chance of disposing of the body. A shiver of fear ran down her spine.

She was going to die tonight.


	11. Chapter 11

Some nights are so dark that even with a torch in your hand and light streaming from car headlights and warehouse windows from every direction, you have trouble seeing what's there and what isn't.

A heavy, black marquee of foreboding kept Hope's rescuers out of sight more effectively than any blindfold. So suffocating was the night, in fact, that as the heavy brute of a man with a limp Hope over his shoulder took a single step away from the glow of the vans headlights, he halted on the spot.

Something was off.

What was that icy finger poking the back of his brain? From what enormous, hovering aircraft had the light of the moon and stars failed to reach the ground where he stood?

The girl he held captive was stiff with concern, wondering why her short life had all these minutes adding up to the total. Why indeed had he stopped? It was the same night as any other, was it not?

But if so, than why before had he never noticed the night was so terribly watchful, and unforgiving?

How mistaken was he, for choosing to ignore the niggling fear that pooled in his gut. How very wrong it was for him to brush off the steely stare of the darkness and take the next step outside the haven of light where his consciousness was a certainty. That… was his second mistake.

His first was daring to draw blood from a friend of the four most loyal, and fearsome, warriors that any man would be suicidal to cross.

* * *

He'd seen his brother get frustrated, even angry, before, but never, not once, had Mikey seen such rage, pure smouldering fury, alight in Donatello's eyes. The once tepid, forest sheen in his irises seemed to fluctuate between white hot anger and the jet black of his pupils as they contracted.

He too felt annoyance of some sort, perhaps not as fiery as his besotted brother, but Mikey sure felt pretty pissed that these bullies had hurt his friends. He glanced across at Raphael, who had been the one to transport Belle. Mikey could tell that there was rising tension between him and their oldest brother over the girl, but now was not the time to dwell on that. It was about to go down! And oh, how he loved a good scrap!

They watched as the brute, who had Hope captive, glanced nervously around the area. It was almost as if he could sense them. Mikey felt a grin tug at his lips. He loved it when they got scared.

Leo scowled at the scene before him. Hope was openly bleeding from her head, and it looked like she'd given up the fight. How did these un-honourable fiends believe they could get away with this?

He'd formulated a plan, and efficiently relayed it back to his brothers. It seemed, however, that Donatello had other plans. Leo understood all too well what his brother was going through, but it irked him that his perfect arrangement was about to be potentially thwarted by his infatuated brother.

* * *

Belle had the sense that the man carrying Hope was walking into a trap long before he took that extra step away from the vehicle. Which was strange, she surmounted, since ambushing the single, barely-armed escort was _not_ a part of Leonardo's epic rescue plan. Unless there was some second version or final copy of 'Operation Liberate' that she hadn't been enlightened with.

Donatello definitely could have been more true to his calculating nature than when he struck. In fact, not even the gadget guru himself was sure what was going through his head when he coiled and sprang from hiding, hissing, like a snake.

Or even while, as the blood over Hopes face stained his cornea's and he saw red, he lost the will to exchange unpleasant formalities and simply threw back his staff like a javelin and sent it flying into the unsuspecting kidnappers ugly nose. _Now_ the blood was on that brutes hands! Quite literally, as he fell on his backside, Hope rolling away in a panic sensing his distress, clutching at his now very broken nose.

And it was at this point, Belle decided, that there _was_ no second, edited version of the plan that she had missed. This was, in all seriousness, a complete toss-up of the good, solid plan that everyone had agreed on. And then all she saw was a wall of shells, following microseconds after a brilliant light suddenly lit up the complex. Because the man Don had incapacitated had fallen right back into where he was visible; in sight of the scouts, who raised the alarm.

* * *

They were on them in seconds. A dozen, or more, burly idiots like the one who had struck Hope, piled into the area to see what the fuss was all about. There was no point in attempting stealth now, Leo thought, as he and his brothers instinctively bolted towards Don, who was leaning over an unconscious Hope.

The leader gripped his swords tightly as he swiftly assessed the situation. Two had rushed to the kidnapper's aide, whose bashed in face was swelling up like a balloon. Only one had spotted Donnie and Hope, and by the looks of his twisted expression, he was none the wiser to mutants and their appearances. _Makes sense,_ Leo mused, _these guys are just lackeys for Bishop. They don't know what he's really up to. They'd do anything so long as it meant they get paid._

That set the turtles up in a positive situation. These brutes would be no match for the ninjas. The rest of the group were scouting the area for potential threats, but the turtles were on them before they had time to think.

Leo took a small group on the left, forcing the furthest forward to the ground with a single kick to the stomach. The others seemed to understand what was happening now, and let out their battle cries, spraying bullets all over the place.

 _That's right,_ Leo smirked to himself, as he socked a man square in the jaw, _just keep firing randomly, one of you is bound to hit us._ The last idiot was backing himself into a corner, his hands shaking violently around the gun. The small rattle from the chamber, and his wide terrified eyes, made Leo feel superior, powerful. He took a step forward, and heard the man whimper pathetically. A huge hand curled around the man's neck, and a gruff, intimidating voice followed.

"I will kill you right here, if you don't tell me where he is. Bishop. _Where is he?_ " Leo growled, spittle spraying the coward's snivelling face.

"He- I-"

"TELL ME!" Leo bellowed, squeezing his neck tighter.

"In… there…" he finally confessed and slumped like a rag doll in Leo's hands. He wasn't dead, just passed out, much to Leo's relief. He sure didn't want to kill anyone unnecessarily. Especially someone as terrified as this idiot.

Leo turned to be greeted with Donatello, who was carrying Hope limply in his arms.

"Is she okay…?" he trailed, fearing the worst.

Behind them, Raph and Mikey were smugly coming forward, plainly proud of their efforts. The latter's expression changed to that of doubt and confusion as he scanned the area.

"Dudes, where's Belle…?" He queried. Quite clearly she was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

 _'_ _Well, this is unfortunate',_ she thought as her mouth was stuffed with a dirty rag and she was dragged into the dark building. Her eyes, watering from the horrid taste and stench of the cloth, had one last glimpse of the turtles fight before the doors banged shut and she was pulled blindly by her hair into a bright, bright hallway and through a long series of more metal doors.

The man gagging her with the cloth only let her choke it out when they were far enough away from the entrance for her cries to be unheard. For that, she didn't allow them the satisfaction of hearing them, either.

She quickened her step so that the strain on her scalp would ease. The men around her, about six of them, were all put off at her seemingly enthusiastic approach to being kidnapped. She smiled at them, feeling a bit less helpless when they shot disturbed glances at one another.

Eventually, she was led to a large lab which looked painfully familiar. It was almost identical to the one they left behind when they rescued Donatello. This one also had large tanks of mutagen. Smaller, cylindrical ones that lined the walls and were attached by long wires and tubes to other tanks. Empty tanks…

* * *

Everything was coming together nicely, just like he'd planned. Bishop knew that the huge public advertisement he concocted around his research would be bound to lure that good-for-nothing wannabe into his grasp. In actuality, his study into hereditary diseases was far from complete, however with Brevin's notes now in his possession he could see that she was only missing one key element. Mutant blood.

Capturing a mutant like those blasted turtles would be next to impossible, so Bishop had taken the liberty of venturing down a new path. One that would ultimately lead him to success, fame and, above all, _wealth_.

After the conference, he'd high tailed it to another of his clandestine laboratories, one utterly unknown to the government. His associates had one simple instruction: Bring Brevin to him. He hoped they hadn't failed him.

The doors to the lab expressed their annoyance at being disturbed, and Bishop swung around, ready to haughtily divulge his great plan to Brevin, but what he saw made his lips form a thin line.

"Efrain, what is _this_?" Bishop demanded as the other girl was thrust towards him. "I specifically asked you to bring Hope Brevin here, not her pathetic sidekick.

The lackey known as Efrain scratched the back of his balding head.

"I-I… you see… we was attacked… sir. Mack was bringing her in, see. Then these huge turtle things came at him from nowheres. Mack's all bashed up, sir. Tom and me, we took the other one, see. The things… they had your Hope girl. We didn't knows what else to do… sir." Efrain was becoming increasingly agitated, but was backed up with enthusiastic nodding from his comrade, Tom.

Bishop scoffed and pulled Belle towards him by her chin. He disliked this one even more than his rival. At least Brevin was a bag of nerves, making her easy to manoeuvre. Miss Gregors… she had spunk, and far too much of it.

He heaved a clearly disappointed sigh as he glared coldly into her eyes. Without breaking contact, he dismissed the lackeys with a wave of his hand, and smiled knowingly at Belle.

"You'll have to do, Miss Gregors. Don't try anything… untoward."

* * *

"And here I was about to tell you how beautiful your eyes were!" Belle simpered in a mock pout. She swore she'd have peed herself before now, if she hadn't had her wit to use as stilts and look down her nose at this man who thought he was so ' _important'_. Nice suit, Mr Self-Righteous.

He scowled and his fingernails pierced the skin of her chin. "You'd better pray your **pets** arrive soon, _brat!_ " He spat, and his mouth softened into a venomous little smile that made Belle's skin crawl. "Or I'll be sending my 'sincerest' apologies to the President tomorrow morning, explaining why I had 'mistakenly' breached his rule about human experimentation…"

Belle had no sly remark to sugarcoat _that_ threat.

* * *

" _ **IDIOT!**_ "

Donatello backpedaled away from the green mass of fury that approached him, not knowing how to react. Raph mad at Mikey? Most likely. Raph mad at Leo? Pretty routine, at this point. But Raph mad at _Donnie_?! Pigs were flying over Manhattan.

" _Even_ ** _I_** _wouldn' do somethin' dat_ ** _STUPID_** _, Einstein!_ "

Spluttering for a few seconds, Don held the still-blindfolded Hope closer to his chest and retorted, "Oh, I'm so _sure_ you wouldn't! You're more than likely than _any_ of us to ruin a mission!"

" _ **'**_ _ **I'**_ let anybody **see** me, Donnie! Did ya **see** how much of a moron dat guy was?! You really think it'd of been **dat** hard ta take 'im out without **SCREWIN' UP** **EVERYTHIN'?!** "

It stung. Don could feel an icy stalactite of shame crystallizing in his chest, weighing him down. Still, he felt abhorrent to the words that slammed into him from his largest brother. And the penetrating stares of worry and deep disappointment from his other brothers, respectively, only made him mad. Both at them, and himself. How _could_ he have been so moronic? What was _wrong_ with him, getting so worked up over a little blond woman who was so damn _prickly_ , and so _painfully_ privileged without a single word of gratitude. Who was _she_ to-?

Don loosened his hold on Hope, who he was gripping so tight for a moment, there, that she had actually cried out. Mikey swooped in and ripped the blindfold off her head, transferring her from Don's arms into his, comforting her like he did before.

* * *

The tension in the air was so thick, that Hope felt she could wade through it. Now that she had her vision back, she could clearly see just how angry Donnie's brothers were. Raph had always had a butch demeanour, but never had she seen him this worked up. It made him all the more terrifying. Leo, it seemed, was furious, but had opted to let Raphael handle it. He was pacing back and forth, muttering to himself.

The warm, safe embrace that Michelangelo was holding her in was rather comforting. Especially after she'd fully believed that her days were numbered. It had been a perplexing sensation, to be held so tightly in Donatello's arms. Hope couldn't tell if it were in frustration at himself, or if he was genuinely relieved that she was okay. Either way, she wanted to be back there.

Not a moment had passed after Raph's outburst when Leo stepped forward and roughly shoved him to the side.

"Never mind that now. We can deal with him later. Right now…" he trailed off, staring blindly at the building in which he knew Bishop had Belle.

Mikey assessed Hope's wound and nodded. He was satisfied that she would be okay. "Come on. We gotta save Leo's girlfriend!" He whooped and turned around for Hope to grab his shell.

Leo shot him a disgruntled glare, but didn't bother to say anything. He would do anything for this girl. Now he was going to show her who really cared.

* * *

Belle closed her eyes, praying for strength. This mad scientist needed his wits about him if he wanted to capture the turtles. Even keeping her hostage, she knew, wouldn't keep the turtles from finding some loophole in Bishops snare. He was being awful silent, pacing around with his shining black loafers not even making a squeak on the tile floor. She needed to break his concentration, throw him off guard, if the turtles wanted a fighting chance.

If she could keep Bishop talking, even if it meant risking her own safety, it would mean a sturdy chance of her friends making a successful rescue attempt. She only hoped they wouldn't put themselves in the kind of danger she was about to dive into. Otherwise, both their risks'd be futile.

"You know they aren't gonna make a big fuss over me, right?" She said calmly, opening her eyes. Bishop didn't falter in his pacing. "They're more professional than you take them for, you know. They know how much mutagen you have… They want it." She made up on the spot.

Bishop turned cold eyes to her.  
"What would mutants want with mutagen?"

"More mutants." The lie rolled off her tongue easily. "You know how it is, don't you? They're a small unit with no females to breed, vulnerable to being overpowered by sheer numbers. There are too few of them. They need more for their clan."

Bishop let this sink in. It _did_ make sense.

Animals in their position always resort to desperate measures in the wild to keep their species alive. It was just natural selection. And yet here nature had created, for previously unknown reasons, a magic _fix_ to their extinction. The ability to _create_ instead of _pro_ creating…

"Hmhmhmhm…" Bishop chuckled. "Well, that just goes against the laws of nature, doesn't it?" He mumbled. " It figures that freaks like them would do something so _unnatural_ …" He studied Belle from where she stood, bound in chains to the steel tank behind her.

"But maybe that's the real problem, hmmm…? Yes, it seems I was wrong about your turtle 'friends'. Their not as 'backward' as I thought at first. There is a gap in their natural order, my dear. A big hole in the plot of their family tree. As you say, there are no females for them to mate with. They really don't have a choice but to use my mutagen."

He gazed fondly, _lovingly_ , at the giant, glowing canisters surrounding them and smiled. "But they aren't getting my mutagen, Miss Gregors. And for the sake of their, erm, 'species'," His smile became a broad grin, "I may have to do the 'preservationist' thing and, well… help them along the _natural_ path. Wouldn't you say?"

Oh it was all coming back around to _this_ again, was it? Belle sighed.

"You _really_ think they want to mate with me and Hope, huh? That they're just beasts with no moral ambiguities or beliefs?" She asked beseechingly.  
Bishop looked at her as though there was no other way of looking at it. She sighed.  
"I'll never understand you scientists."

* * *

This time he would keep the lead. This time he would be her hero. This time she would thank him for saving her.

Leo was a few paces on front of his brothers, walking with a purpose about him. He daren't look around to see the others' expressions. He had a mission, and he didn't care what they thought.

Part of him, his logical section, was scolding him fiercely for acting in the exact same manner that Donnie had just minutes earlier. At what point would these girls stop forcing their rational brains from going haywire?

"You okay?" Mikey asked over his shoulder.

"Hanging in there," Hope smiled in reply. Her eyes were trained on Donatello, who was sluggishly shuffling just behind Leo. Hope looked over her own shoulder to see that Raph was trailing behind, making sure they weren't followed, and made the decision that she was out of earshot.

"Mikey… what… uh… happened?" She mumbled to the back of his head.

"You mean with Don?" He smirked, sensing Hope's hesitation.

"Yeah…"

"Leo made a plan. Donnie didn't stick to it. Leo sure doesn't like it when we don't stick to his plans. It was actually a pretty good 'un too. I guess Donnie was blinded… you know…?"

"Blinded…?"

"Yeah… by love!"

"Wh-"

Hope's exclamation remained unfinished as they were suddenly surrounded by a shrill blare of a siren.

"Who set that off?!" Leo bellowed, searching his companions' faces for guilt. "Never mind! Donatello! Turn this thing off! Now!"


	12. Chapter 12

"Where?!" Donatello yelled over the noise, searching the walls and ceiling feverishly. "I haven't seen a fuse box since we came in!"

They heard a stampede of footsteps from around the corner behind them, and then a teeth-grinding shriek of distorting metal as Raph caved in the nearest door. Hoping the sound didn't reach Bishops minions, the turtles scrambled inside, Leo sending a shuriken into the nearest light to cover their escape.

Before they could gather a plan of action, to their utmost surprise the marching troop outside sped straight past where they were previously standing. Far from stopping or searching the other rooms in the vicinity, the footsteps cascaded down the corridor along with indiscernible yelling and panic until only the din of the siren could be heard.

"Was that lucky?" Raph whispered. No-one answered, still listening for signs of an ambush.

"…No." Don said finally. He peeked through the gaps in the side of the door, where the metal had concaved and the lock had been torn free."I've studied every inch of this place as far as we've been, and I would have noticed a camera or sensor. This must be something else."

Everyone let out a breath.

"Um, I wouldn't get too comfortable," he continued, stammering, "Something else set off that alarm. And if it's not us, then… then it must be one of Bishops e-experiments…"

* * *

 _Out. Free. Away. Away from the nasty cage. Now free. Can leave horrible place._

A loud blaring noise was coming from every angle. He was sure it was meant for him. But this time he would get away. Away from the awful people who kept him in that tiny cage.

He wasn't sure how his instincts had become verbalised in his mind, but all he knew was that he had to get as far away from this terrible place as possible.

It seemed almost impossible that each corner he turned allowed him safe passage, but he wasn't going to dwell on that now. He merely counted his blessings.

A low growl emerged from his throat as he sensed another life form close to him.

"There it is! This way!" voices that bore no recognition pricked his ears and he dashed in the opposite direction. He'd come too far now to be captured again.

Not this time.

This time he would be free.

* * *

"Boss! _BOSS!_ Agent Bishop, sir!"

Bishop snapped his head toward his subordinate as he crashed into the room. He'd had it with these incompetent hires messing up his perfect plans!  
"What? What's happened? Stop _grovelling_ and **speak** , man!"

"It's the special experiment sir," the man panted in a panic, "Specimen G-9, zero-something or other… It's out! Escaped!"

" **WHAT?!** "

His hapless minion cowered when Bishop blew up in front of him. Lightning was held captive in his black eyes, and his 6 feet in height stretched into something more like 10.  
 _Forget the girl, forget even the turtles for now,_ Bishop told himself, _That specimen_ **must** _be recaptured!_

" **Put the entire lab on lockdown! Shut down the main power circuit!** " Bishop barked, whipping his communications device from his belt. " **Equip all men with compression masks and air-tight sulphuric solution!** "

"The poisonous gas, sir?! But the experiment…!"

"It's a mutant, imbecile, it'll live through it!" Bishop growled. "But I want that creature knocked out and back in it's cage before daybreak. **IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?!** "

"Yes sir! Right away, Agent Bishop, s-!"

" **GO!** "

Obediently, he scrambled on the polished floor through the exit. Bishop tugged on a body-length black coat over his three-piece suit. As he spun on his heel once more to speak to Belle, the lights overhead went out. And the last thing Belle saw was that dark cloak, sweeping behind him like the night after the last light of sunset.

"Sit tight, _girl_." His voice was gritty through the black, and far more venomous than Belle remembered it being before. "I know _you_ might find my little pet 'cute', Lord knows, you seem _very_ fond of your own. But believe you me… _my_ little dog _bites_."

…There was the sound of a door clicking shut on the other side of the room.

And then, the sound of heavy breathing from high above. Belle didn't think Bishop would have to worry about her for much longer.

* * *

In recent weeks his mind had been controlled by mere instincts. Impulses would tell him where we needed to be, what he needed to do. But after that strange man had poked and prodded him with sharp objects, he began to feel less instinctual. Suddenly these words were floating in his mind. Words that had previously been garbled noises coming from his captors mouths. But now, the world around him almost seemed to make sense.

Whatever it was that the dreadful man had done to him, it wasn't just his mind that had been altered. The whole space that he occupied seemed smaller, or maybe he'd become bigger? Either way, he knew something terrible had been done to him.

He was smarter now than he had been before the last dose of green goo had been injected into him. He knew he could outsmart these people now. So when he curled up tight into a space, that would have been easy to manoeuvre in weeks ago, he knew that the evil man would leave the room beneath him to follow the loud blaring noises.

Peering down from the cramped air duct, he noticed that a female human had been left behind in the commotion. He studied her, and noted the way that the man had spoken to her. She was not one of those people. She was different.

Suddenly a word popped into his head. He had no idea how he'd managed to learn this word, however it seemed to fit perfectly.

Empathy.

If this girl was to be experimented on, like he was… Then perhaps she could be an ally of sorts.

She had been left alone in the dark. Now was his chance to escape. He dropped down from the duct, and bore his full form in front of the girl.

* * *

Electric paralysis consumed her at the loud - _whump-_ of the creature, whatever it was, landing in front of her. Shocks like bolts of hot lightning numbed her limbs and set her insides ablaze in panic. Her mouth opened in a silent scream.

If the lights had been on at first, maybe she'd have been less afraid. The darkness was so thick that all she could make out of Bishops 'special specimen' was that it was large, looming, and incredibly, terrifyingly, powerful.

The creature, seeming to sense the fear that suffocated her, lumbered towards the far wall and tore something from it. Immediately, the lab was bathed in moonlight. And the shock that took her before took Belle again.  
But this time, no fear choked her. She only gasped.

A massive creature, arms and legs more thick and bulging than even Raphael could ever imagine. A wide, 6-foot long tail with scales climbing from the tip, all the way up it's back and to the top of it's head.

A crocodile.

Belles eyes, though wide with fear, were captured by a gaze from the saddest, most tired, hopeful and curious eyes that she had ever seen. At once, feeling came flooding back into her arms and legs. She let out a breath. She knew the spirit behind those big, yellow eyes; was familiar with it.  
It was the same spirit she recognized in her closest friends. The turtles, she knew, would never do anything to hurt someone innocent. And neither would this mutant.

There came rasping noises from the reptilians throat. It's willful eyes shone brilliantly as it sensed that she was no longer afraid. Belle tried to understand the grating sounds as he tried to speak.

"What are you saying?" She whispered, trying to sound calm and reassuring.

* * *

There was so much he wanted to express to this girl, however the low growl that was emanating from his throat was completely incoherent. Even though he'd seen the humans around him verbalise their thoughts often, he had still yet to achieve this himself.

He'd fully expected her to recoil in horror once the pale light washed over his body. This hadn't happened. She'd looked at him in a way no human had ever given him before. Not that of hate and disgust; a mere specimen. No, she gazed upon him, making full eye contact like he was another human. An equal. A friend.

This word swirled in his head, and he knew that was what he needed to tell her.

The growl rumbled in his throat, exiting his mouth. He watched her lips form the words as she spoke, and he endeavoured to mimic them.

"F-friend…?" He finally managed to choke out.


	13. Chapter 13

"Leo… bro… what do we do?" Mikey whispered urgently at his hesitating brother. It had been only minutes since the alarm had began, and all were now looking to him to make a decision. The way he saw it, there were only two choices: find Belle, or leave. The latter didn't bear thinking about, and he quickly formulated a plan of action.

"We can't all go storming in…" he mumbled, more to himself than that others. The most logical path was to take Raph, as he was the most likely to fight if the need arose. However, Leo's selfish side argued against this logic. Simply, he didn't want Raph to steal his thunder yet again.

"Donnie and I will go in. Hopefully whatever has those goons all riled up will have drawn them away from Belle, and we can just sneak in and take her. Raph and Mikey, stay here with Hope. Do NOT be seen."

Mikey tightened his grip on Hope and nodded, fully ready to carry out his brother's instructions. Raph, on the other hand, appeared far from pleased.

Leo turned to Donnie, "Ready?"

Don looked over his shoulder. In the dimness, he could barely make out Hope as she crouched behind Mikey. His youngest brother hadn't left her side once since Belle disappeared, and the platinum-blonde seemed, to Donatello's eyes, completely fine with that. He couldn't explain why, but he loathed watching her stick so close to the younger turtles side.

But there was no doubt she'd be safe with him. So Don made his peace with it for now.

"Ready." Don breathed. He turned back around, but his older brother was already gone. "He-! _Wait! Leo!_ " He shot down the corridor to catch up, leaving all previous thoughts behind him. And a sizable gap in the defaced door where a pair of blue eyes followed him until he was out of sight.

* * *

"Y-yes." Belle smiled through her wonderment. "O-of course. Friend! I'm happy to be!"

She could swear the reptile was beaming across his wide, toothy mouthy. She beamed back, but had to recompose herself when he very suddenly bounded forward and snapped his jaws over her chains, cleaving them clean in two.

"Oh, thank you!" She rubbed her sore wrists, grimacing. The beast picked her up roughly, she was sure he didn't know his own strength, and sat her on his back. There came another few near-unintelligible growls from his throat, but Belle thought she caught the words, _"_ _Leave. Now. Freedom."_ He began a trot towards the side of the room opposite to where Bishop exited.

"O-oh, wait!" Belle wriggled up until she could see the right side of his massive head over his shoulder. "Friend, I have - uh - other friends who are probably looking for me!"  
At the word 'friends' the crocodile paused in his gait and tilted his head to the side to listen. "F- f…"

"Friends, yes!" Belle smiled at the one yellow eye she could see. "If we find them, they'll help us escape! They're mutants, like you. They aren't like Agent Bishop, they're honorable warriors who are trying to defeat him!"

The beast crooned hopefully, and Belle felt a great rush of affection for her new companion. "They'll be the other way, towards the front entrance. Trust me, they'll help us!"

Hesitating at first, the croc followed her direction. ' _The poor thing doesn't want to meet Bishop again'_ , Belle thought. She hoped, for his sake, the others wouldn't react _too_ badly when they saw her riding on the back of the escaped experiment.

* * *

'Where am I going?' Leo thought angrily. His instincts had kicked in without warning, and now he was peering wildly into each unoccupied room without any regard for himself. This wasn't the first time in recent weeks that he'd thrown all logic out the window for this girl. Something needed to be done. He vowed once this was all over, he'd arrange for some alone time with Splinter and get this all worked out. Surely he'd understand?

He paused momentarily at a sharp corner and spied Donnie catching up to him in his peripheral vision. He wanted to do this alone, but some last shred of sense had knotted around his haphazard brain. It was a good job too, because just as Leo was about to dart around said corner, Donatello clasped his shell and dragged him back. Second later a disgruntled looking Bishop whisked past them, mumbling furiously to him. Obviously in a state of rage, he completely over looked the two mutants crouched in the shadows, but if it weren't for Donnie, Leo would be standing toe to toe with the evil brute.

"Thanks bro…" Leo expressed his generosity, if a little sheepishly. Donnie nodded his silent welcome. They were certainly even now in their rashness.

"He's gone back towards the guys and Hope. They'd better keep hidden." Leo beckoned his brother forward and they slipped silently down the now deserted hallway.

"Where the heck is she?!" he grumbled once they scanned yet another empty room.

"Bishop wouldn't have let her out of his sight if he thought we'd come looking for her." Don surmised, glancing over his shoulder nervously. "Which means, practically speaking, we should be heading the right wa-…way. Hey…"

Something in his brothers change of tone made Leo turn around. Don was looking up at the ceiling. There, concealed by shadow, a wide, thick air duct hung wide open and twisted, like something large had ripped it apart trying to get in. Not taking his eyes off the scene, the tech turtle reached one-handed into his bag and pulled out an LED torch. Though the polished metal gleamed under the white torchlight, the mangled edges of the fissure sent streaks of dark shadow in a stark and scary contrast across the walls.

Don looked into his brothers eyes. They, like his, were dreading. Only far more fearful.  
"We won't have to worry about her if we reach her first." Don assured, feeling more like he was the leader, seeing as Leo's last nerve was failing him. Looking up again, he noticed several long, thin power chords running alongside the duct.

"Come on." He said, trying to sound confident. "Those conduits should lead us to the main lab, or maybe a control room. Either way, it's our best lead."

Don jogged a few steps ahead, then picked up the pace as he heard Leo move swiftly alongside him. He wished, on the inside, that he could have stayed with Hope, to make sure she was alright too. And Raph, Don thought to himself, would have been much better suited to take charge if their fearless leader lost his cool. A circumstance which, Don chuckled uncertainly, the odds were leaning heavily towards at this time.

* * *

The tiny space in which they were all crammed into felt like it was getting smaller each second. Hope began to struggle to breathe, especially since she was still being cradled in Michelangelo's arms.

"They've been gone ages…" she observed, wishing to break the tense lull that had engulfed them.

No one answered, so she turned her attention to Mikey and attempted to resolve their earlier conversation.

"Mikey? What did you mean earlier, before the alarm went off… About Donatello… being blinded by love…?"

She felt him stiffen around her and inhale awkwardly.

"Uh… figure of speech, you know?" He stuttered.

"Oh…"

"He likes you, you know?"

"Oh…?"

"It's pretty obvious, man."

This didn't sit right with Hope. She knew she'd been nothing short of awful to him ever since they'd met. How could it be possible that he liked her? Not wanting to push the issue further, she left it at that and began to watch Raphael.

He hadn't moved from his little perch at the doorway, nor had there been any activity around them. Something about the way Leo had decided to take Donnie with him rather than Raph didn't make sense to her. She wracked her brains, but couldn't find any logical explanation as to why he'd done that. Raph, on the other hand, appeared severely disgruntled at the situation.

* * *

 ** _SECTION MISSING_**

* * *

 _She's alive._

Of course she was alive. That girl seemed to be able to get out of any tight spot, and still be able to see the adventure in it. Leo's heart began hammering in his chest at the sound of her voice. They were merely metres away from the sharp turn in which her voice was resonating. He darted forward towards the sign of hope, only to be faced with some sort of invisible force preventing him from advancing further. It only took a moment for Leonardo to realise that the force was in fact his brother, bravely clinging on to Leo's shell. They locked eyes and shared an unspoken dispute.

 _Let me go_ , Leo's eyes widened and painted the picture of his intentions.

Donatello retorted with a fierce glare. _Let's not do anything rash._

The brief moment that their mind melded was enough to bring Leo back to his senses. It could be a trap. She could still be in Bishop's clutches. His thoughtless actions could have put all three of them in danger. He internally chastised his heart.

He daren't give away their position, so he mimicked actions at Donatello and crept back into the shadows. Donnie followed his lead and circled back around.

Now that he was in full ninja mode, Leo could easily sneak down an adjacent corridor and get a better idea of Belle's position. Eyes gleaming brightly in the dimly lit hallway, the shockingly silent turtle peered around the corner and spotted his friend. But she was not alone. He stifled a gasp.

It seemed Donnie, too had seem the spectacle from his view point, and once again the two formulated a silent plan with just a few glances.

There was a shift in the air. From deep in the throat of the beast, a gravelly growl rose in a fearsome tempo. His delicate mind, though improving by the hour, was still born of an animals brain. His sense told him to trust his new ally, but his nerves felt the presence of an enemy. His eyes dulled over as his instincts took hold.

Belle, on the creatures back, knew at the back of her mind what was about to happen when his spine bent into a hunch, and the force of his growls rattled her rib cage.

Two dark figures leaped from the shadows, speedy and whirling like a couple of sharp, glinting shurikens.

" ** _Stop!_** "

Her desperate yell went unheard. The crocodile reared, and the walls shook with a roar so enormous and guttural that people a mile away would cry 'earthquake'!

Flying into view came Donatello, staff spinning like a hurricane, and tagged her friend smartly across the jaw. Even as she felt a painful stab of remorse for him, knowing that he had put his trust in her not to be harmed, Belle gasped in fear as she was thrown off. But before she sailed an inch from his scaly hide, she was engulfed into an embrace so firm and secure that she could barely move as her limbs turned to jelly.  
Leonardo flipped once he caught her, landing on the other side of the monster while Donatello tussled with its flailing arms. He backed away quickly, arms crossed protectively over her as he kept one eye on the fight. Surprised, Belle noticed the tremors in his muscles as he fought himself not to squeeze the life out of her now that he had her. Though not knowing what was the matter, she promptly forgot all about Leo as Donnie, finding a break between the blows swinging at him, activated his taser.

" ** _NO, Donnie, DON'T!_** " she shrieked.

Too late. Belle watched as her friend thrashed under the white-hot pain searing the flesh of his neck. Unlike Don, Leo had heard her cry. So had the crocodile.


	14. Chapter 14

As Leo rapidly ordered his brother to cease, voice tremulous with concern and confusion, the croc fell elephantine to the floor. His eyes became bright with intelligence once more as he weakly moved a hand to reach out.

"F… friend…"

And then he only made heavy gasps of breath in his sleep.

An eerie silence loomed after the bustle of the unprovoked attack. The three of them gazed upon the creature with wide eyes. Leo felt a pang of guilt slice his heart, as he realised that Belle, who was still nested in his hold, had been attempting to protect the giant mutant.

She began to wriggle, so he hesitantly loosened his grip. Without faltering Belle dashed to the giant's side and began stroking his oversized brow.

The brothers shared a puzzled look. Was this Bishop's experiment that had escaped? Why hadn't it hurt Belle?

Taking a tentative step forward, Leo was abruptly cut short with a frantic wave of Belle's hand. He could see from the strained look in her eyes that she was furious with them. Selfishly, Leo felt frustrated that yet another of his rescues had been foiled.

Before any of them could verbalise their thoughts, voices caught up with them down the left corridor. The almighty roar had obviously been heard, and now they were seconds away from being caught. Who knows what Bishop had in store for them.

"We need to go," Leo calmly explained. Donnie, on point, began to retreat into the shadows, however Belle seemed reluctant to move from her comforting spot.

"Belle…" he touched her arm delicately, endeavouring not to be forceful. "We have to go now. He's not getting up. Come on."

His pleas fell on deaf ears. Belle would not leave her friend. Panic began to rise in his chest. He could not let her be captured again. What he did next, he was not proud of. With as much strength as he felt safe, he scooped the girl into his arms and raced off after Donatello.

* * *

" **It was here! It came from over here!** "

"Where is it, though? I don't see-"

" ** _I see it! I see the experiment!_** "

" **Masks on! Hold fast to your emission guns!** "

"It's not moving though-"

"Get a scientist down here, there's a burn wound in its neck-"

"A burn-?"

" **-STAND DOWN! MOVE ASIDE, SOLDIERS!** "

Bishop shoved his way to the front of the group. There it was, alright. He ground his teeth and stamped his foot on the crocodiles massive head in anger. His experiment had given him a run for his money. For a moment, there, he'd considered the possibility of losing all his work. Millions of dollars gone into the making of this beast, and for it to ruin it all just like that? He was furious at its escape attempt.

He took a deep breath. At least now it was subdued, and…

"Private." The agent snapped, pointing between the eyes of a soldier near him. "The creature, did it put up a fight? Was it found this way?"

"W-we don't know, sir." The man stammered. "We think someone took it out, but… it wasn't our squadron sir. We weren't armed with tasers, see, and…"

" _Tasers?!_ We don't stock _…_!" Bishop leaned over to where a smaller group of soldiers were examining the beasts neck. They moved away when he approached. After a few minutes, he straightened. His face was hard and cold as ice. None of the other men in the room could read him beyond the crystalline fury in his eyes. "Men." He said softly. "Will some of you please go and check on our little guest in the lab?" A fraction of the group automatically climbed over the beast and back where it had come from. It didn't really matter. Bishop knew that she wouldn't be there. He clenched his fists.

His plan had failed. He didn't have a hostage. He knew the turtles had taken her. Going by the mark on his prized experiment; the long, skinny one that he'd not so long ago captured had used the taser on his staff to get past it.  
So he didn't have his turtles, either.

No hostage.

No turtles.

No Hope Brevin.

"At least I still have you, animal." He murmured at the sleeping croc. " **TAKE HIM BACK TO THE LAB!** "

* * *

"Dude. Don't," Mikey stated firmly. His big brother was plainly getting beyond restless, and the younger turtle saw the tell tale signs of a tantrum.

Raphael huffed and turned his shell on the others. Hope was beginning to understand the hot head's frustration. They'd been cooped up in their hidey hole for ages now, with no word on what the situation was. Anything could have happened.

"What do we do if they don't come back?" Hope whispered to Mikey. He'd long since released her from his protective hold, but she still comforted herself by leaning against his huge bicep.

"They will, Hope. You don't know Leo like I do. He'll be back. Promise," he smiled. Hope felt a hint of desperation in his tone.

Raph's head shot up like a dog on alert. Hope and Mikey followed his gaze, but saw nothing.

"Wh-" Hope began to ask, but was fiercely interrupted by an echoing growl. It wasn't close, but it was loud enough for them all to wedge themselves into the doorway and peer down the parallel corridor.

It was deserted.

 _But not for long._

" **It was here! It came from here!** " Bellowed a voice, followed by a brisk set of footsteps. Hope grabbed both turtles roughly by the shell ridges and forced them backward with all her strength.

A flurry of feet marched by and proceeded down the right hallway.

"Where is it, though?" Another voice asked in the distance. "I don't see-"

He seemed to be cut off, but they couldn't tell if it was because he was too far away to hear, or if he'd seen something.

"That experiment… What if it's hurt Belle? What if it was too strong for Leo and Donnie?" Hope murmured out loud, speculating all the worse scenarios.

"They'll be back. I made you a promise, didn't I?" Mikey replied. Again, Hope could sense that he was attempting to make light of a situation that may have them all captured. _Or worse_.

* * *

Leonardo had to clamp one of his large hands over Belles mouth to muffle her protests as she struggled to get free. She was of course smart enough to keep quiet once she heard footsteps approaching where the crocodile lay still on the tiles. There was no use putting her old friends in danger to stay with her new one. Still, angry but silent tears streamed from her eyes as the form of the lovable mutant she'd promised to save disappeared behind a corner.

Donatello led the way, sweeping deftly down the halls and taking turn after turn as he navigated the way back to the others. Every now and again he'd hear a sniffle from the tense, trembling bundle in his brother's arms as he kept up behind him. He'll have a talk with Leonardo later about the way he'd been acting all night… Which was going to be hard. Don was not one for confrontations, particularly when he initiates them.

In no time at all, he came back to the dented door where they'd broken in earlier. With relief, Don saw three pairs of eyes peering through the crack.

* * *

Mikey had fallen silent after his attempt to cement his promise to Hope. The fleeting look she'd given him before averting her eyes was full of doubt, and he felt that pang of guilt in his gut.

That was a feeling that he was sure Leo had felt many times. Mikey knew his brother had a shed load of burdens to bear as their leader, more than he'd share. Looking over briefly at Raph, who looked about ready to snap, Mikey realized that at this point, he was the one to take on those burdens. He was the leader of their little group of three. And it sucked.

He was just about to open his mouth to relay the orders to retreat when the unmistakable sound of footsteps echoed in the exterior hallway. Raph had clearly heard them too, from the speed he moved to the doorway. All three in the tiny area peeked through the gap in the doorway and surveyed for the owners of the footsteps.

As Leo, still holding tightly onto Belle, and Donnie leading the way, came into view, the two turtles and Hope all breathed sighs of relief. Mikey turned to Hope and grinned, despite his own doubt.

"Told ya."

"The HELL took you so long!?" Raphael whisper-shouted, swinging the door open to let the small party in. "Next thing we'd think you'd got mauled by that escaped experiment!"

Raph snapped his head down when a muffled sob sounded. Belle was wrapped tightly in Leonardo's grip as he slipped inside behind Don. "Yo, did she get hurt?"

"No, she didn't. At least not that I know of." Don, for all his annoyance with the odd behaviour of the eldest, found himself looking distractedly over at Hope. Her cut was now long scabbed over, but a nasty smear of dried blood coated one side of her face. His hands itched to check her over, see if she had any other injuries, but… "We, uh… we need to get out now so we can see if H- uh, if the girls are hurt. Leo and I didn't have time to check Belle before we heard Bishops guards coming."

"Donnie's right; we need to get out of here," Leo agreed, glancing down at the girl in his arms. She didn't appear hurt, as such, more in shock. Though, thinking about the fact that she'd spent a considerable amount of time alone with Bishop, he didn't want to even imagine what could have happened.

Hope listened to the plan being formed around her. A sharp urge to step up and lead the group to safety jabbed at her chest, like a stray pin. This was her burden, and as far as Hope was concerned, none of them would be in this mess if it weren't for her.

Solemnly, she looked from friend to friend. Belle appeared ready to give up, and Hope realised that she felt the same way. This wasn't what the girls had signed up for. But the turtles… Hope couldn't help but get the feeling that this whole situation was just another day for them. At this point, they were all she had left. Her home and work were all destroyed. It was time to start again, and she had to allow them to take care of her, even if that meant permitting herself to be weak.

Her face muddied with makeup and congealed blood, Hope allowed herself to be taken into Michelangelo's open arms. The group, together once again, raced down the corridor in search for escape.

* * *

Words could not describe how furious she was. "Furious" in this instance, held so much more meaning than wrathful anger.

Belle felt downright terrible. There was guilt over failing to keep the crocodile, who she'd suddenly taken to calling "Leatherhead" affectionately, and worry over whether she had betrayed his trust. She felt angry with Leonardo and Donatello for being narrowminded enough to forget how mistreated and misunderstood THEY are as mutants themselves, not to mention for delivering him back into that madman Bishops clutches. And largely, she felt cheated.

Belle may not exactly be in the best state of mind, but she can tell how sorry Leonardo is. Can feel the tenseness in his grip that gives away his guilt (and also his relief?) over attacking her "captor". And if that were all he'd done, she might have been empathetic.

But Leo had robbed her of her honor. He should have KNOWN how crushing it is to leave a fallen comrade behind. And if it were him, Belle knew he'd rather have been shot than leave a friend to the enemy.  
But, apparently, Belles honor was not as important. It was HER choice to stay behind, damn it! Tears streamed from her eyes, cold biting her cheeks as air rushed past in the leaders run. Now poor, innocent Leatherhead might never get out…

Feeling sypathetic eyes on her, Belle looked up with blurry vision to see Hope staring at her from Mikey's bridal carry. Her blue, blue eyes stood out starkly against her sickly skin and the red-brown of her dried blood. If anything, Belle was glad her other friend was now okay.

That is, of course, if they make it out of this complex without a hitch. Belle held her breath as the turtles came up to the large, steel trap of an exit.


End file.
